Obsessions
by mabelreid
Summary: Spoilers for season 2 A beautiful new agent replaces Elle and catches Reid's eye, much to JJ's dismay, but is the agent all she seems to be.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/n the time line on this is right after Aftermath and there are spoilers for the episode. Elle is gone and the new agent isn't Emily. I have rated this T for language and possible sexual overtones. This is a Reid/OC with a jealous JJ thrown in for good measure. **_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds only my own original characters. **_

_**As always use the little review button for feedback, I respond to all reviews.**_

Spencer Reid woke up feeling refreshed when the alarm began to beep. It didn't occur to him to wonder why he felt so great after a difficult case, he was just happy to have finally gotten a good night's sleep. It was six am, the same time he always rose when there was no urgent case. Even the fact that it was Monday morning didn't bother him.

He never stopped to wonder why he felt compelled to be up at the crack of dawn. He knew the others on the team didn't care if they dragged in a nine, or ten in the morning. Reid was the only one who seemed to need the quiet of the early morning hours at the office to get ready for the constant string of terrible things other people did to each other.

His room was filled with books, on the table in one corner, stacked on the floor, or in the large bookshelf that completely covered one wall from floor to ceiling. It was a large bedroom, nearly five hundred square feet. It was the reason he'd bought the house in the first place. It had originally been a game room for the kids of the family that had sold it to him. The master bedroom was much smaller, and he used if for an office instead.

There was a large comfy arm chair in one corner where he read. He liked to read at a normal pace, and enjoy a good book before he went to sleep. It helped him to wind down from his work, which still haunted his dreams.

He slept in a king size bed. He told himself it was because he likes room to toss, and turn if the recurring nightmares he had plagued him. He'd had lots of closet space added because even though he dressed like a prep school student, he had lots of clothes. The floor was a chocolate brown color that nearly matched his own eyes, but he didn't make the connection. Why should he notice things like that?

He sat up in bed, and pushed off the covers as he turned on the light. Squinting, and blinking rapidly against the glare, he sat there, and waited for his eyes to adjust. When they had, he got up, and walked to the closet. He pulled the old grey tee shirt over his head, and hung it up neatly in its proper place, on its correct hanger, and with his other clothing of the same type, and color. He took off the pajama bottoms he wore, and repeated the same procedure with them. He moved a blue work shirt from the red section of his closet to its proper place.

He took a quick shower, and then went to the kitchen for his first cup of coffee for the day. He poured more coffee into a small thermos he had started carrying to work everyday. He hated the bad bureau coffee, and this way he had at least two cups of great java to get through the morning.

He grabbed his holster, and his satchel, and left his home, being careful to lock the door behind him as he left. He ran down the stairs three steps from the front porch to the driveway where his SUV stood parked. He hurried to start the car, and turn on the heat, as it was a cold October morning.

He was a little anxious that morning, there would be a new agent joining the team as Elle had left after the shooting of the alleged rapist they had been pursuing. She had never been the same since the fisher king had shot her, so he wasn't surprised when she just left one day. He was upset that she didn't even say goodbye, after all he thought they were friends. He would have to get over it, just as he'd gotten over so many other disappointments in his life.

As he drove down the street, he wondered what the new person would be like. Hotch had only said that it was a woman, she was about Spencer's age, and fairly brilliant in her own right. He was glad she was smart too. Not that he was a snob, but it would be nice not to be the only resident genius at the bureau. The others on the team didn't understand what it was like for him to have all this stuff in his brain. No one had ever really understood him, except for maybe his mother before her descent into schizophrenia.

He didn't want to think about that, he didn't want to remember that it had been his own decision to have her committed. He would never forget the look of betrayal she'd given him when they took her away to the sanitarium. He told himself again, for the thousandth time, that he did it for her, not just to make his life easier. And once more he tried to decide if he would ever believe it was true.

His guilt over his actions was what kept him away from Las Vegas, not his job, or lack of time as he told Gideon, or anyone else. He didn't want to be reminded of what he'd done to her. He tried to make it up to her by writing a letter everyday, and telling her every thing about his life. Some days it worked, and he felt ok, other days like today, the guilt was almost overwhelming.

By the time he reached the parking garage, he had his emotions under control, and he walked to the elevator with a pretty neutral look on his face. This was the reason he came in early everyday, so that he presented a normal picture to his colleagues. The last thing he wanted was for them to profile him, or feel sorry for him. So he was dismayed when he walked into the bull pen, and Morgan was already there.

"Hey kid, early as usual I see, don't you have anything better to do in the mornings besides coming in here?" Morgan smiled winningly at Reid, and then frowned at the look on the younger man's face. He was used to seeing the other agent with circles under his eyes from lack of sleep, but this was more than that, he looked….

"I'm fine Morgan, or as fine as I can be after the case we finished yesterday." He sat down, and pulled a case file towards himself, and opened it, signaling to his partner that he didn't want to talk. Of course Morgan ignored his body language, and attempted to pursue the issue.

"You look like someone ran over your puppy." His wide smile was completely annoying, and Reid was about to make a really sarcastic remark when JJ breezed by. She wore a red sweater and a dark blue skirt, her long blond hair hung down to frame her face, and she smiled at them as she strode past.

"Good morning boys," she said perkily, and Reid couldn't help but watch her walk all the way up the stairs to her office. If he'd been hooked up to a heart monitor, alarms bells would have been going off like mad.

Damn it, when was he going to forget about her, and get on with his life? He knew he was pathetic, but he couldn't stop pining over a woman that only wanted to be his friend.

Morgan observed how his partner was looking at JJ, and forgot about the look of despair he'd seen in the young agents eyes. He'd thought that Reid had resolved his crush on the beautiful young liaison a long time ago, but now he wasn't so sure. It was interesting to him, that if his partner had been pining away for the lovely agent Jareau all this time, why hadn't anyone seen it? Was the young man that good at covering his feelings?

"See something you like Reid?" Morgan chuckled when Reid's face turned beet red. So it was true, he was still pining after the lovely Jennifer. Morgan decided then that he would have to do something about that. He didn't want his "brother" sad about a woman.

Spencer shot him a withering look, and said, "Shut up Morgan." He kicked himself for letting his friend see his feelings. He dreaded what Morgan would do with this new information.

"Come on man, she's a beautiful woman, why don't you ask her out again?" Morgan knew he had to push the young agent, or he would continue to just sit around, and do nothing

"It's none of your business, and I don't want to talk about it, so can you please just leave me alone!" Why couldn't Morgan get the hint, and back off.

"All I am saying is, it can't hurt, at least if she says no you can move on." Morgan was exasperated by Reid's lack of initiative.

The occasions were few, and far between when Reid got the best of his partner. This was one of those times. He put a big smile on his face, and asked Morgan. "So tell me, when are you going to ask Penelope out?"

Morgan's grin left his face faster then lice deserting dying rats. "Excuse me," he said, in a dangerous tone.

"I'm just curious how it is that you think you can advise me to go for it with JJ, when you've been blatantly flirting with Garcia for years, and yet you refuse to take the next step. Honestly, I don't know why she waits around for you."

"Watch what you say Reid." All traces of humor in his face was gone, he looked as though he could actually commit violence on his friend.

"What's the matter Derek, you can dish it out, but you can't take!" Reid was tired of the teasing, and the constant pressure from Morgan for him to find a woman.

He couldn't understand why it was so important to his partner that he find a girlfriend. Reid wanted JJ that was true, but she was completely out of his league which was something Morgan would never understand, as he was the male equivalent to the object of his affections. Reid knew that Garcia had been in love with Morgan for months, but she felt as Reid did, that she didn't have a chance with someone so attractive.

_At least they flirt which is more than you can say for you, and JJ._

He hushed the internal voice, as Morgan stood up, and moved toward his desk with a look that told Reid he may have gone too far.

"I don't know why you're talking this way, but it's going to stop." Morgan warned him standing over Reid's desk, and using his position to intimidate the younger man. Reid stood up, and took a step toward the bigger agent.

"You just don't get it do you Morgan, you constantly tease me, about my clothes, my hairstyle, my lack of "babes." just what do I have to do to get your approval?" Reid was practically shouting, and Morgan stood staring at him in amazement. When had timid Dr Reid decided to stand up for himself?

Morgan backed off, as he suddenly realized that Reid was really upset. It hadn't occurred to him that his teasing would hurt the young agent so badly. Why had he waited to say something till now?

_Maybe because this is something you should have determined on your own! _

"Reid look, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings I just -"

"Oh stop it Morgan, you're just like the bullies in school, you never think of anyone but yourself, and the fun you can have putting someone else down."

"That's not true Reid, and you know it I -" Morgan held up his hands placatingly.

"Enough you two… put away what ever it is you're fighting about, and get up to the conference room. We have an urgent new case." Hotch stood to one side of them, his face expressionless as always, but his tone made it clear he wouldn't take more of their bickering. He gestured to the round table room, and turned away without another word. Morgan didn't have time to wonder just what had gotten into Reid that morning.

Reid waited for Morgan to follow Hotch, and when he did, Spencer stayed several steps behind them. They entered the room where Garcia and Gideon already sat with JJ. The two of them sat as far away from each other as possible, and refused to look at each other.

JJ looked at them curiously, but she had to put it aside for now. She pointed her remote at the screen, and began to explain their latest case.

"This is Kylie Webster." The picture showed a smiling blond girl with blue eyes and a gap in the front of her mouth where a tooth had been recently lost.

"She is the third child to go missing from Phoenix area in the last six weeks. The other two were beaten, stabbed, and sexually assaulted before they are dumped in Death Valley near route 190. He keeps them with him for three days before killing them.

"Isn't route 190 one of the routes through the national park," Reid asked, as if he didn't know for sure, after all he was the one that admitted to memorizing maps?

"Yes, this is a confident man; he's white, in his middle thirties and late forties. He's been doing this for awhile, so we need to check for other victims killed the same way." Gideon said with absolute conviction.

Garcia nodded, and got up to return to her children to begin the search. As she left, she almost ran into the woman who was running into the conference room. Morgan raised an eyebrow when he saw her. He glanced at Reid out of the corner of his eye, and saw that the young man had turned cherry red.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't get here any faster, I hit traffic at just the wrong time." She shook hands with Agent Hotchner, and he turned to the rest of the group.

"Every one this is our new profiler. Her name is Karen Abbott; she's been with the FBI just under a year. She has been assigned to our unit because of her unique talents. She has a tested IQ at 140 and she entered the bureau with the highest testing score since our own Reid joined us 5 years ago.

"Hey Reid… looks like she's a sandbox buddy for you."

"Morgan, can we please just get through the morning without any smart ass remarks." Hotch turned his trademark frown on Morgan.

"Ok, just teasing, since when did that become a federal offence."

They went around the table, and introduced themselves to her. Reid could hardly speak when Hotch explained who he was to her, and when she sat down next to him he lost the ability to verbalize all together. She was breathtakingly beautiful. She had chestnut brown hair with golden streaks, and eyes the color of fine whiskey. Her face was heart shaped, with a milky rose complexion. She stood about five feet three inches tall, and couldn't weigh more than one hundred pounds and ten pounds. She had a cute body with a small waist, and breasts that were just the right shape in Reid's opinion.

He realized he was staring, and turned away with his face burning. She didn't seem to notice anything was wrong, but JJ noticed, and she didn't like it at all.

_Wait… since when are you jealous, this is Reid remember?_

Morgan noticed, and decided that he was going to enjoy watching this play out. He couldn't wait for the case to be over, so he could have a long talk with Garcia; she would get a kick out of this as well.

"Agent Abbott, what are your thoughts on this?" Gideon asked, ignoring the non verbal currents running around the room, like cats chasing church mice.

"Oh, well I can tell you that this isn't his first kill, he has experience. He is controlled; there is no evidence of disorganized behavior." She stood up, and walked to the white board for a closer look at the crime scenes. He's a sociopath with no remorse. He is taunting the police."

"How do you know that, there hasn't been any communication with the police?" JJ blurted out. She hadn't meant to speak, but there was something about this woman that she didn't like.

_Could it be the fact that you finally have some real competition for the affections of young Dr Reid? You don't want him for yourself, yet he notices someone else, and you go off the deep end._

_I haven't gone off the deep end!_

_Right… you just keep fooling yourself, and in the meantime she's going to steal him out from under your nose._

Karen was a little taken aback at the tone in the blond agent's voice. What had she done to irritate the other agent? "Well, it's obvious; he's leaving them to be found in a heavily traveled area. He believes that he can't becaught. Each time he gets away with leaving a body in plain view, the more confident he becomes. He won't stop till he's captured. She sat back down next to Reid and was silent.

The scent of her perfume washed over him. He loved the smell of lilacs, and that was what hung around the new agent, and it was intoxicating. He sat for the next half an hour without contributing anything to the discussion which was a first for him. Gideon noticed this, and he saw how JJ was reacting to the new agent. He had a bad feeling there was going to be trouble in the team.

"Ok, everyone, wheels up in an hour. Agent Abbot would you come with me please, I need to have you sign some paperwork for your transfer." Hotch said, holding out his hand toward the door. She followed him out of the room, and Gideon followed her.

Reid stood up, and continued to ignore Morgan who tried to stop him. He left the room just as JJ asked Morgan. "What's wrong with you two," she hadn't moved from where she'd stood listening to Agent Abbot.

"I don't know what his problem is, I teased him a little, and he went ballistic on me." Morgan knew better than to tell her the reason for Reid's upset.

"There had to be more to it than just a little teasing Morgan." She stood with her hands on her hips, a look he recognized from when she was dealing with a particularly stubborn bureaucrat.

"JJ, I don't think we should talk about this, don't worry I'll handle it." She studied him for a moment, and then decided to change tactics.

"What do you think of Agent Abbott," She had turned away from him, but he didn't have to see her face to know what she wanted to know.

"Don't worry JJ, he still loves you, she's just a pretty face that distracted him for a moment, he'll get over it." He ignored the shocked look on her face, and left the room with a chuckle.

This was not a good turn of events, if Morgan could read her so easily than what about Gideon or Hotch, and what about Spencer, what was he going to infer from her outburst. She didn't know what to make of it herself, after all she been telling herself for nearly two years, that Reid was a friend, period, end of story.

How did it all get so complicated? If she had no feelings for Reid, then why wasn't she in a relationship? The excuse that she didn't have time was a smoke screen. She could have a man if she wanted one, so why didn't she. She noticed she was pacing the room like Spencer did when he was upset. She looked down, and noticed her hands were shaking. It finally got through her brain that she needed to make a decision, and fast, or she was going to be alone, and bitter for the rest of her life.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/n here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone that has taken the time to post a review for this, or send me a personal message. I kind of messed up on the time line. I said it was March in the first chapter when it is really set in October of 2006. My apologies to those of you who read the first chapter, before I realized, and fixed the error. **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own CM, only my own original characters, therefore no copyright infringement is intended. **_

One hour later, the team was boarding the plane. Reid reached the cabin last, and had the choice of sitting next to Karen, or next to Derek. It was either that, or he had to sit at the back of the plane where he'd have to shout to participate in the discussion. He was still furious with his partner, so he decided to sit next to Karen. She smiled at him, and he felt butterflies in his stomach. She was so pretty, how did someone so beautiful get to be a profiler?

_You used to think JJ was the most beautiful women in the world, what happened to that smart guy?_

He made the internal voice shut up, as the team began to work out a strategy to form a correct profile. Reid put all of his concentration into the case. He didn't want to think about Agent Abbott, or her small perfect body.

He pulled his file toward him, and began to read, as though its contents were new to him. The others began brain storm about the un-sub, as they usually did during the flight. Spencer and Agent Abbott were the only ones who were silent, each with their own reasons why.

Karen kept silent because she was new, and she didn't want to upset the dynamics of the team that were already in place. If she were going to fit in, she had to figure out when to speak, and when to keep silent. And she was assessing JJ, who was on the phone with the Phoenix police. She couldn't understand why the other woman was so angry with her. She hadn't done anything wrong; all she wanted to do in the conference room was demonstrate why she deserved to be on the team.

Spencer was quiet because he didn't trust himself to speak. He was afraid his voice would squeak, or he would start rambling about some obscure fact, or another. He was so confused, he thought that he was in love with JJ, but this new woman was so beautiful, and she was smart too.

_It's just your hormones Spencer, JJ is the one you know, the one you love, Karen is just the new girl so she is a mystery to you. _

He didn't know if he wanted that to be true or not. On the one hand, he thought he was in love with JJ, but she didn't love him back, in fact it seemed to him that most days she barely tolerated him, and he wondered why he put up with it. No one deserved to be treated that way. He should have someone in his life that liked him for who he was.

On the other hand there was Agent Abbott. She was beautiful and smart. She was a fellow profiler so she could understand him.

_What… you think that because JJ isn't a profiler, she doesn't understand you. She looks at the crime scene photos too, she see all the terrible things these killer do to others. Just because she doesn't come up with a profile doesn't make her less then you. _

_You don't even know this Karen, how do you know she's the one who'll accept you totally? _

He didn't know, but he wanted to find out, he was tired of waiting around for some sign from JJ that she had real feelings for him.

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The plane touched down in Phoenix, and they began to gather their belongings. JJ had arranged for them to be picked up by the detectives working the case. They deplaned, and the heat of the day slammed into her like a physical blow. It was the middle of fall in DC for God's sake, but here it felt like summer had been booked for another long run. Judging from the look on the others' faces, they all felt the same. All most in unison, they pulled dark glasses out of pockets, and bags, and put them on. She nearly laughed out loud, because now they looked like the G-men they were.

They moved across the tarmac to the vehicles that were parked at one end. Hotch was approached by a tall, well muscled, African American man. He wore plain clothes, and he looked as thought he could wrestle Morgan to the ground without much effort. Then he smiled, and the image was broken.

"I'm detective Steven Harrison, and this is my partner Michael Lange." He gestured to the man next to him. He had dark auburn hair, and brilliant green eyes. He stood several inches shorter than his partner, and he was as thin as a whip chord.

"I'm Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner; this is SSA Jason Gideon, SSA Derek Morgan, Special Agent Dr Spencer Reid, Special Agent Jennifer Jareau, and Special Agent Karen Abbott."

"Hey, darlin' what's a pretty little thing like you doin in the FBI." Detective Lange said to Agent Abbott, who flushed red, and opened her mouth to reply. Hotch beat her to it. "Agent Abbott is new to the team, but she is as qualified as any of us, so I would appreciate if you would treat her with respect." He drilled the detectives with his usual stern look, and Harrison said. "Don't mind him, he's from Georgia, and I don't think they teach them manners there."

"I only said what y'all was thinkin, so don't go gettin all high and mighty on me." Hotch's lecture had stung.

_Damn feebs, comin in here and thinkin they're better than us. _

He was going to show them a thing or two, just see if he didn't.He put his best contrite look on his face, and turned to Agent Abbott.

"My apologies ma'm, I didn't mean no offense."

"Its okay, no harm on foul," She seemed genuinely un-offended. Reid watched the whole exchange without a word, but he could feel his face burning again, this time he was livid. How dare that son of a bitch speak to her that way?

JJ was watching him watch the cop, and the new girl. She wondered if he realized that his anger was apparent to everyone. As for herself, she was seriously pissed, and hoped that wherever they stayed for the night, it was with separate rooms, she didn't want to share a room with the little…

"Everyone… that's enough, we need to get out to the crime scene. Hotch… take Abbot and Reid, Morgan and I will go speak to her family. Gideon said, not requesting, but demanding, he needed to separate the troops before blood was drawn.

"I guess that means I'll get set up with the locals," JJ said to no one in particular, as they took off in different vehicles.

"Come on, my partner, and I will show you were you can get started." Harrison gestured to the last car parked on the tarmac.

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The drive to the crime scene was long, and made boring by the sameness of the landscape. He'd seen all of it before. Agent Abbot was in the front seat talking to Hotch, her voice had a soothing quality he didn't understand, and soon he was asleep. It must have been the heat because his dreams were full of the torment he'd suffered as a child in high school.

When he was twelve, six of the football players had ambushed him, and driven him out to the outskirts of Las Vegas It had been winter time, so the heat was bearable. They had left him in sight of highway fifteen, after they had beaten him. He'd walked back to the freeway with a split lip, and a blackening eye. He'd almost passed out by the time he reached the blacktop, and luckily a Good Samaritan stopped to help him. The woman has wanted him to take him to the hospital, but he convinced her to just take him home. He told her he would get his mother to take him to the doctor. That was a blatant lie; he had no intention of telling his mother. He never did when the other children beat him up, or locked him in a locker, or one of the thousands of other torments they could think up. She wouldn't notice anyway, she was lost in her own world, and she only saw what she wanted to see, when she looked at him.

He jerked awake when the SUV came to a stop. They were parked on the side of the road, and Hotch was getting out of the vehicle. Karen turned to get out, and her eyes met Spencer's. He felt that same connection, and wondered again, why did she affect him like that? He smiled shyly at her, and then berated himself, why couldn't he come up with a smooth remark like Derek?

They joined Hotch, and the police officers that accompanied them. There wasn't much to see. It was desert. It hadn't rained in weeks, so the ground was hard, and useless for things like tire tracks, or footprints.

"He knows the area and that we won't find anything to identify him here." Agent Abbott observed, and Reid wondered if she could read his mind.

_God I hope not!_

Then he realized that she was a profiler, if she were any good at all, she would have reached the same conclusions that he had.

_Come on lover boy, get your head out of the clouds, and concentrate on your job._

"Yes, the lack of moisture in the ground would make finding any tracks of a vehicle, or a person difficult, if not impossible."

"Could he be a resident of the area, or does he just know his geography," Reid wondered aloud.

"He's from here, he knew when the park rangers patrol the area, and he was careful to avoid them, or any tourists." She sounded so confident; he wished he had that same tone in his own voice.

"You're right Abbott, we need to question the rangers, and see if there are any hermits, or other people living in the desert that might have seen anything." Hotch turned away, and began to speak to the officers at the scene.

"You're very perceptive," Spencer blurted out inanely at Agent Abbott. He immediately flushed the color of candy apples, and wished the ground would open up underneath him.

_Smooth Reid, really smooth! _

"I've always been good at reading people; I guess that's why I wanted to be a profiler." She didn't seem to be laughing at him, so he had hope that she would overlook his social idiocy, and like him one day.

_Why is it so important to you? Do you just want her to like you so that JJ can figure out what she's missing?_

"You ok, Dr Reid," her voice was as inviting as her eyes. It was silky smooth, like dark chocolate melting on your tongue.

"What… oh yeah… I guess I forgot how warm the desert can be even in the fall."

"I hate the heat!" She said, this with such vehemence that he just stared at her. Then it was her turn to flush. "Sorry, I grew up in the desert, and I just got tired off the constant heat."

"I did too."

"Really, where are you from Dr Reid?"

"Las Vegas," he said, thinking that now she would ask him what it was like to grow up in sin city.

Instead she said, "I'm from New Mexico."

"We had a case there once."

_Oh that's good Dr Reid, can't you talk about anything besides work?_

"I know," Karen said, then flushed, and looked down at the ground as though she'd said something she hadn't meant to say.

"How did -"

"I memorized your case files." She was still studying the ground as if her life depended on analyzing the content of the sand, and rocks beneath their feet.

"Why?"

"I ah - well I wanted to fit in and I figured that if I knew more about you all then I would. Oh… it's stupid… I know; just pretend I didn't say anything ok?"

Her eyes met his, and he felt that desire again, the one the made him want to take her into his arms. She was so tiny, he wanted to protect her. There was something in her eyes that he wanted to erase.

"It's not stupid to ask questions, or have a good memory Agent Abbott."

"Dr Reid, please call me Karen, I hate the whole "calling people by their last names" thing that agents do. It makes me feel unimportant, like I don't matter."

"Um… okay… Karen." He flushed again, and mirrored her activity of studying the ground in front of them. He snuck a peek at her, and found her staring at him, and something flashed in her eyes that was gone in an instant.

"You can call me Spencer if you want." He blurted it out like a challenge, and then berated himself for sounding like it was an irritation. "I'm sorry if that was harsh, I really don't mind if you use my first name." He smiled at her, and she said, "Okay Spencer… now what do you think about this guy, are we getting close on establishing a profile.

Spencer opened his mouth to answer when Hotch approached them. "Come on, we need to get back to Phoenix, the state troopers are going to go around, and question a couple of local hermits, and some others that have come out here to get away from the cities, and live off the land."

"This doesn't seem like the type of crime someone like that would commit."

"Why do you say that Agent Abbott," Hotch asked as they climbed back into the SUV, and wonderful air conditioning.

"Because these types of personalities are anti-social, usually they hate the government, or the police. They would avoid contact with said agencies, not taunt them like this un-sub is doing."

Hotch started the truck and executed a quick U-turn back onto route 190. "You're right, but we need to know if there were any possible witnesses to the un-subs activities. It's possible someone who lives out here may have seen something that is significant, and they don't even know it."

"Yes sir, of course."

"We need go back to the precinct, and find out what Morgan and Gideon have found out. JJ is working on a press release to deal with the media. There are a lot of angry parents out there. Frankly I don't blame them." Hotch normally didn't comment about the personal side of cases, but he hated the ones that involved the exploitation, and suffering of children.

The trip back to the precinct was even longer for Reid than the drive there. He was intoxicated by Karen and he was sure that Hotch knew it. He wanted to get away from her, and try to sort out what he was feeling.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/n Thanks again to everyone that has reviewed. **_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own original characters, so don't sue me please. **_

Morgan and Gideon arrived at the house on 7th and Maple streets. It was an ordinary looking home. It was painted a bright white color, with dark blue shutters at the windows. The wooden structure stood two stories tall, and was almost brand new. The Webster's were new to the neighborhood, they had moved in 6 months before, and they had three children.

Mr. Sean Webster answered the door. His face was haggard, and the lack of sleep he had experienced was obvious. "Mr. Webster I know this is difficult, but we'd like to speak to you, and your wife."

Gideon passed into the entry way with Morgan, when Mr. Webster opened the door for them. Sean Webster showed them into a spacious living room, where a woman sat on the large leather sofa in front of a lovely stone fireplace. Mrs. Webster didn't look up when the men entered the room; she seemed entranced by the photograph of Kylie in her hands.

"Mrs. Webster, I'm Agent Gideon, and this is Agent Morgan. We'd like to talk to you about Kylie."

Emily Webster looked at Gideon with eyes that were so full of despair that he wanted to look away, but he knew that he couldn't, he owed it to her to look her in the eye. The truth was that he hated cases with children. He couldn't let it get to him while he was trying to work a case, but in his nightmares, he suffered. He didn't know what he would've done, if anything like this had happened to Steven when he was small.

Gideon sat down next to Mrs. Webster, and looked at the picture. Kylie was dressed in ballet slippers, and a pink leotard, and tutu. She looked a lot like her mother. Mr. Webster sat on the other side of his wife, but his eyes strayed away from the picture. Gideon could see he was trying not to cry.

"Your daughter was a dancer?"

"Yes… this was her first recital. She was so nervous; she nearly forgot to come on to the stage. She looked like a little angel that afternoon." Emily Webster began to sob, and her husband wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Do we have to do this now, my wife is very upset? Instead of asking questions, why aren't you out there trying to find my daughter?" They were used to angry outbursts, and accusations from family members, or the victims of terrible crimes. They'd long since learned not to take it personally.

"Mr. Webster, we know this is difficult, but if we are going to find your daughter, we have to speak to you about her. Is there anyone you noticed hanging around the house that you didn't recognize? Has anyone shown an interest that would've made you uncomfortable?"

"No, there's no one, the police asked us the same thing, and Emily and I have been wracking our brains. We can't think of anyone that would do this to Kylie. She was such a sweet child."

Gideon turned to Emily Webster, and asked her if they might take a look at Kylie's bedroom. She led them up the stairs at the back of the house without a word. The police had wanted to see her room too; two more men in there didn't matter. Her little girl's privacy had been violated already; did it matter if more men saw her things?

The room was typical of a little girl, with a twin bed made with a pink comforter, and lots of pink, and white covered pillows. There was a bookcase in one corner filled with coloring, and picture books. There was a set of paints, and a picture in progress on a corner table. Gideon picked it up, and looked at the usual childhood portrayal of a house, and her family together in front of it.

On her bed snuggled up to the pillows, was an orange tabby cat. It blinked its green eyes slowly at Gideon, and then let out a loud meow, before jumping off the bed, and running out of the room.

"That's Kylie's cat, she's not supposed to be in the room, but…" Mrs. Webster began to cry again, her already bloodshot blue eyes, weeping tears like a Madonna at Lourdes, or some other place touched by God.

"It's like she knows that Kylie is in trouble, do you think that's true Agent Gideon?" She didn't meet his eyes. She couldn't bear it if she looked at the agents dark eyes, and saw what she'd already seen in the detectives' eyes, that they believed it was already too late for her baby girl.

He knew what Reid would say to that, and for once he was glad the young man wasn't there, so that he could lie. "Yes, Mrs. Webster, I'm sure she does know."

Gideon knew that most of the child abductions were done by someone they knew, and felt comfortable with. Unfortunately, society had done a poor job of preparing children for these kinds of attacks. He didn't want to tell the Webster's that it was unlikely that they would find that girl alive. He wanted it to be true, but the statistics were against it.

They checked the outside of the house, but there was no sign that anyone had been hanging around, or stalking Kylie. There were no bushes, or trees close to the house for someone to hide in, and the neighborhood had a watch program.

Everything had been in place to protect this girl, and yet everything had failed. Morgan and Gideon headed back to the police station. They could only hope that somewhere in all the witness statements, and reports they could find something to lead them to Kylie

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JJ was on the phone with Jackson Miller the owner of the local newspaper. She was trying to put a news conference together to appease the reporters that were hanging around outside of the station. When so many small children are targeted, it was a major cause for concern. She didn't want this to turn into a three ring circus.

"Yeah Mr. Miller… that's right, 6 pm. No… there won't be any exclusive's, everyone gets the same information at the same time. No… just be here by six, ok."

Damn reporters, and newspaper men, they were as persistent as vultures when it came to sensational stories. Why did the human race thrive on stories of blood and suffering? It wasn't right that the smallest and most vulnerable of us should be exploited. It was bad enough that the killer did so many terrible things to them before they died. To see their faces splashed across the uncaring TV news or in the paper was awful. What must their parents go through?

She shook it off, and went back to her preparations. She couldn't afford to be distracted by anything. That included the new agent. Hotch called to let her know that they were on their way back to the station; he wanted her help going over the witness statements that were coming in from the detectives in Death Valley.

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Five hours later, they had gone over everything, and everyone was getting cranky. Morgan and Reid were still ignoring one another, unless talking about the case made them deal with each other. They wanted desperately to find Kylie Webster alive, and time was running out.

The door to the conference room opened, and Detective Harrison entered. The look on his face told them all they needed to know, but hearing it still sent a knife into their hearts.

"We found Kylie Webster."

Morgan's fist hit the conference table making Reid jump. Damn it… why did he have to be so melodramatic, everyone was upset, he was upset. He wanted to vomit, but he didn't go around hitting things in anger. He glared at his partner, but Morgan wasn't looking at him.

"How is it possible he slipped past officers watching the dump site? Are your men incompetent?"

"Morgan, stop it… this doesn't help us." Hotch pinned him with his usual stare.

"It doesn't matter, the body wasn't found in the same place. This time she was found on the steps at the front entrance to the school."

"He's escalating, and his getting bolder." Gideon stood, and walked to the white board where Kylie's photo was hung. He'd already targeted his next victim; we have to find him before he takes another life."

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They headed out to the school, even though Reid was sure they wouldn't find anything. They also had to deal with Detective Lange, who seemed to blame, them for Kylie's death.

"I thought the high and mighty FBI was here to save our butts, and find this son of a bitch. Well boys and girls, it don't look to me like you all helped at all." He leered at Agent Abbott, who flushed red again. Reid missed the exchange, because he was looking at the body of the little girl.

"There has to be some significance to why he left her here, other than just avoiding the police in the desert."

"Maybe he works here, he feels comfortable enough to leave her here, because he spends a lot of time here." Karen moved closer to Reid, and away from Detective Lange.

"You could be right; we'll need to talk to all of the staff at the school." Gideon watched the coroner zip up the body bag. He didn't like the way it made her look so anonymous. The shape beneath was so small.

"Gideon, did you hear me?"

He looked up at Hotch, who had concern for the other agent in his eyes. Most people couldn't read Hotch, but Gideon had known him for so long, that it was easy.

"Jason, we need to get some rest, we can't do anything more till morning anyway."

Gideon didn't agree, he wanted to continue to go over the evidence, but he knew the other needed rest. He watched as Reid walked away following Agent Abbott, but not speaking to her. He wondered where that triangle was headed. They all piled into the two vehicles waiting for them, and headed out of parking lot, and back to the hotel

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JJ dropped her bag on the floor of the hotel room, and sighed in relief. Hotch had gotten them separate rooms, and that meant that she didn't have to share a room with the new agent.

She began to undress, letting her clothes fall to the floor instead of hanging them neatly as she usually did. It didn't matter; she was exhausted; she couldn't stop thinking about that poor little girl, and her parents. How could a person be so cruel, and uncaring towards their fellow human beings?

She went into the bathroom, and turned on the shower. She pulled up her long blond hair, and fixed it in a butterfly clip. The water was very hot by the time she stepped into the shower, it stung her skin, and she was grateful for that. The pain of the heat on her skin, helped to soothe away the anger she been feeling since the moment Agent Abbot had entered the round table room at the BAU.

She was angry at herself, for her blindness where Spencer was concerned. It had taken the attraction between him, and another woman to pull her out of her complacency. The question now was what to do with this knowledge. If she went to him now, he would know it was because of the new agent. He may not possess social skills, but he was smart enough to figure out that jealousy was behind her approach. Yes, okay… she was jealous, so much so that she could hardly think straight.

She stewed over this till her skin began to wrinkle, she got out of the shower, and while toweling off began to kick herself for getting this upset over nerdy Dr Reid. She was Special Agent Jennifer Jareau; she could have anyone she wanted.

"I don't want anyone else." She wiped the condensation off the mirror, and studied her reflection in it for a long time, and was dismayed when tears of sheer frustration, and exhaustion began to fall. Pulling the clip out of her hair, she went into the bedroom, and crawled into the bed. She didn't think she would sleep, but she was out as soon as her head touched the pillow.

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Spencer entered his room, glad for once to be away from Derek. They hadn't spoken to each other except about the case since that morning, and that was okay with him. He wondered why it had taken him so long to stand up to his partner. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't imagine letting the older agent get away with teasing him again.

This knowledge brought him a rush of well being, and he stripped down to his boxers. It was too damn hot to sleep in his usual sweats, and tee shirt. He moved to the air conditioning unit, and turned it down to 65 degrees. The cold air on his skin was wonderful; he closed his eyes, and relished the cool air for a moment before getting into bed

It was nice to not change for bed in the bathroom. He hated to dress in front of Morgan. Although his partner had never said anything, Reid was sure he secretly laughed at his lack of physical assets. Reid supposed he had a point. He was bright enough to realize that he wasn't what most women wanted. JJ for instance, she never treated him as anything more that an amusing puppy to be petted, and tolerated.

Now there was (_Karen) _Agent Abbott, she seemed nice. At least she made an attempt to talk to him seriously. She didn't seem the type to just put up with him, like JJ did.

He pulled the bedspread down, and off the bed. Next he climbed into the bed, and grabbed the novel off the nightstand next to him. He never slept well in a strange bed, and was ready to spend the evening reading at normal pace. After several frustrating minutes, he found that he couldn't read his thoughts kept straying to Agent Abbott, and her beautiful face. He debated just getting up, and going to her room.

_That's a great idea, just what do you think she would infer from your presence at her door, genius._

His inner voice was right, what if he knocked on her door, and she laughed at him, or worse slammed the door in his face. He threw the book aside, and turned off the light. Somewhere in the middle of trying to decide what to do about Karen, he fell asleep, and dreamed of her lovely eyes.

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"Hey baby-girl, why are you still in the office, Hotch made us take a break, you can leave now." It was exasperating, and endearing the way Garcia was always available to him. He hated to admit it, but Reid was had a point, he wasn't treating her right. He had no right to make her think she was more to him then a friend. The problem was that while his head said no way, his heart leapt every time she called him. He was at a loss to know what to do. That admission alone was a scary one, after all he was Derek Morgan, ladies man extraordinaire, and he always knew what to do with a woman.

"_I'm always here for you, sweetie." _There was something in her voice he'd never bothered to notice before, and it scared the hell out of him. He shut the hotel room door behind him, and leaned back on it, his heart racing.

"_What's wrong… my big, strong, profiler man?"_

He grasped at the only straw he had, and that was Reid. "Something's up with Reid, he's not acting right."

The pause was so long, he thought she'd hung up. Then she was back, the tone in her voice was concerned for Reid, but cold towards him.

_(Nice going Derek, you really have lost your touch_.)

"_Why do you say that, sugar?" _

_(Now why did "Sugar" come out sounding like an insult_?)

So he explained it to her, and was more than a little peeved when she took Reid's side. _"Don't you think you were a little hard on him?"_

"Why does everyone say that to me?" She nearly cried in frustration at the genuine confusion in his voice, he honestly thought that it was okay for him to tease Reid the way he did.

"_Derek… in case you haven't noticed, you're hardly a subtle man when it comes to Reid, and his - well unique qualities." _

"Hey, it's all in good fun."

"_Spoken like a jock that never got teased, or bullied in school." _

"Oh baby-girl… you sound like you're speaking from experience." His great smile was back, but it soon left his face again, when she responded to his thoughtless remark.

"_Yeah, I know what its like to be tortured by the brainless cretins that only cared about football, and their latest sexual conquest. I was a computer geek at school, and a prime candidate for teasing."_

"Penelope, I'm sorry I had no idea," He wished he'd never called her.

"_Right… you see… that's the problem with you, you never notice what is outside the scope of your little world. How did you ever get to be a profiler?" _He sat down in shock on his bed, no it was more than shock, it was amazement, Penelope simply didn't talk to him like this.

"Hey sweetness… I'm sorry I didn't mean to -"

"_Don't call me that, Agent Morgan. Look I have to go, if you're having problems with Reid, figure out what to do yourself." _He started to reply, and realized he was talking to a dial tone.

"**Shit!" **


	4. Chapter 4

Gideon sat down at the desk in his room and began to rifle through the crime scene photos and the other documents related to the case. He refused to sleep until he caught this maniac. He knew the value of a clear head, fueled by a good nights sleep, but he couldn't let this go.

_He's confident in his ability…. …he's taunting the police…. …they were left on the side of Route 190.… ….not afraid of getting caught…. …help me… …promise I won't tell please…. ….mommy help me!_

He closed his eyes with a snap, and tried in vain to shut out the voices of the children that had drowned out the voices of his coworkers, and his own inner voice. That voice rarely steered him wrong, and he wanted to hear it speak to him again. Why was it so silent this time? What was he missing?

He couldn't see the crimes this time, what was blocking him? There was something about this man that scared him badly. _We won't catch him unless he makes a mistake!_

_Bundy, Dahmer, Jack the Ripper… on and on it goes, when does it end? When will we learn to stop hurting each other?_

His eyes popped open, and he pulled off his glasses, and then dropped them on the table. He rubbed his hand over his face and eyes. His head was pounding so hard, it was as though someone were trying to break out of his skull from the inside.

He needed to stay on top of this; he stood and began to pace back and forth rubbing the thumb of one hand over the fleshy part of the other hand, and over the basal joint of the opposite thumb. It was a nervous reaction that most of the time he didn't know he was doing, but something stopped him that early morning, and he looked down at them as if he'd never seen them before.

H turned sat on the bed and removed his shoes. In spite of his vow not to sleep, he lay down on top of the bedspread, and was asleep in seconds.

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Aaron Hotchner shut the door to his hotel room, and dropped his suit coat over a chair next to the small desk in his room. Thank God they hadn't needed to share rooms this time around. Gideon was a good friend, but sharing a room with him was sometimes very trying.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, and listened to the message his wife left, including a few babbling words from Jack, who'd just turned one. The boy was so cute and smart. He wanted to pick up the phone, and call Haley, but it was late, and he didn't want to wake her.

God he wished she were with him, he missed her so much on these trips, and there were times when he could use a shoulder to lean on. Then he would tell himself that she was apart from this, he would never want her to see, or deal with the terrible things he saw everyday.

His team thought he was cold, well it was his only defense against the brutality of all the horrible things people did to each other on a daily basis. It had served him well in the courtroom, and it helped him in this job as well. Besides, this wasn't a popularity contest, it was a hard, monstrous job, and someone had to do it, or there would be more pain in the world.

He taken off his shoes and socks and laid down on the bed. He'd bullied everyone into getting some rest, and strangely enough when it came down to it, he was the only one besides Agent Abbott that didn't go right to sleep.

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Agent Karen Abbott was relieved that she'd been given her own room; she didn't want to share a room with Agent Jareau, and endure her looks of dislike, which in her opinion were underserved. She'd started her first day and - ok maybe she was showing off a little, but she couldn't help it. She wanted desperately to fit in, and Agent Gideon did ask her opinion. What was wrong with that?

She had worked so hard to get to where she was; no one had any idea what she'd gone through to get there. She wasn't a genius like Dr Reid, but she'd been picked on all the same. She was always top of her class because learning came easily to her, and she was in the choir too.

Now she was different, she still liked to sing, but the braces and the dull brown hair was gone, she'd made herself over, and if there had been some serious detours on the way, well it had just made her stronger. She was so close to her goal, she just needed a little more time.

Dr Reid… he wasn't what she'd expected, he was very kind and he was so handsome, too. In spite of those awful glasses he wore. She'd not only memorized their old cases, but she read everything she could find about the team that wasn't classified.

She didn't know what to make of Derek Morgan, except that he reminded her of the football players in high school, she could ignore him just as she had ignored them, and their taunts, and teasing.

Jason Gideon was exactly how she'd pictured him. He was dedicated to the job, perhaps too much so. He also reminded her of… _No don't think about that!_

Agent Hotchner was a cold fish, at least to his team, she'd seen the ring on his hand, and he must be a lot different at home. His eyes worried her; he seemed to be able to read your soul with those eyes, what if he saw what she tried so hard to hide from everyone else.

The one she had to be careful of was Agent Jareau. She'd seen how the other woman had looked at her, and she'd seen how she looked at Reid. The other woman was in love with him, but she didn't know it, or didn't want to admit it. Well that was her problem, if she wanted to dance around the issue; she had no right to be upset if he noticed someone else. She hoped the person he noticed was her. He was sweet, and gentle, and she was drawn to him in away that she'd never felt before.

She pulled off her clothes, and picked up a white hotel robe. A shower was just the thing she needed. She didn't get it though, a knock sounded at her door. _Damn who could that be? _She opened the door without asking who it was because she assumed it was one of her co workers. It wasn't, and the face on the other side of the door wasn't a friendly one.

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Reid's phone rang shrilly, yanking him out of his dreams of Karen. He punched the pillow with his fist, imagining it to be Hotch, or Gideon's face he hit. It could only be one of them at that time of the morning.

"Reid!" He didn't bother to hide the irritation in his voice. He didn't care if nuclear war heads were about to hit, he wanted his sleep

"_Reid, we have a rather sticky problem."_

"What is it Hotch?"

"_Detective Lange was killed tonight, he was shot, and it looks like Agent Abbott pulled the trigger." _

"**What!"** He hadn't meant to scream but –

"_Just get down to Mercy General Hospital, I'll explain later."_

He was gone before Reid could ask him any of the questions barging through his head, like how the hell had this happened? Why had she killed the Detective? Why was she in the hospital? Had the Detective hurt her? He got moving, throwing the covers off, and grabbing the same clothes he'd worn earlier that day.

So many emotions swept through him. Fear for the new agent that she been in enough distress that she felt it necessary to kill a man. He was angry as well, actually he was furious, and he wanted to raise the detective from the dead so he could have the pleasure of killing him. It didn't occur to him then that his feelings were a bit over the top for someone he'd just met less than a day ago.

He tied his shoes, and grabbed his holster and satchel. Doubt was beginning to get through the fog of sleep in his brain. What it this weren't self defense? What if it was – no he wouldn't think that way. He didn't stop to think why his belief in her was so important. He only knew that it was. He stepped out of his room, and nearly knocked JJ to the ground. She looked absolutely incensed, and he couldn't figure out why.

"Damn it Reid… can't you watch where you walk for a change." Sometimes Reid's inability to coordinate his lanky body really got on her nerves, then she saw his face and she softened. He looked as exhausted as she felt.

"I'm sorry JJ I-"

"It's okay Spence; I'm the one who should apologize. I guess I'm just irritated at being yanked out of bed at this hour, all though God knows we should be used to it by know, right. She smiled up at him, and he melted. After all he was attracted to Agent Abbott, but that didn't mean he didn't care about JJ, too. He'd never felt drawn to two women at the same time. It was so confusing!

"So what do you think happened, JJ," He asked her tentatively. He didn't want her mad at him. Something told him she would be angry if he mentioned Karen's name to her.

Instead of lashing out at him, she sighed and said, "I don't know, but if any woman feels they have to kill a man, it must be for a good reason."

They reached the elevator, and JJ pressed the button to call it. In spite of the late hour, her blond hair was perfect, and he was again swept away by her beauty. Damn, how could he go back a forth between a woman he believed himself to be in love with, and a new face that seemed to be someone he could relate to. That was the problem, could she really relate to him? Just because he wanted it, didn't make it possible. She probably thought he was a silly nerd just like all the other women he'd found attractive.

JJ watched him out of the corner of her eye. He looked genuinely upset, and her heart went into her throat. Was it too late? Had she waited too long to speak to him, it looked like it she had. She moved closer to him, and slipped a hand into his, only wanting it to be a gesture of comfort. He looked at her, startled by this development. She smiled wanly at him, and he felt something settle in his stomach that had been churning since the call about Agent Abbot had come in.

He squeezed her hand tight, and when the elevator doors opened, they walked out into the parking garage together. He'd never held a woman's hand before, and he hadn't known what to expect, but he one thing he hadn't expected was to feel so comfortable. Maybe something was different; he thought for a moment when she looked up at him, that something had changed in her eyes. How could he know, he was an expert at reading un-subs but JJ baffled him. He felt like he should flip a coin, heads for JJ, and tails for Karen.

Gideon stood in the shadows of the parking garage, and watched them approach the SUV they borrowed from the locals. Hotch was still in Agent Abbott's room, trying to determine what happened, he'd convinced Morgan to stay and help Hotch. He knew that Reid was still angry with his partner, but now wasn't the time to deal with that.

He stepped out into the light, and nearly smiled when she dropped Reid's hand like she been burned. Good, it appeared that they still cared about each other. He didn't know why, but he didn't quite trust Karen Abbott. Maybe it was that she was brand new, and had killed another law enforcement officer on her first day. It was Elle all over again, and they'd hardly put that behind them.

"Ah - Gideon… we were just -"

Gideon chose to deal with an embarrassed Reid, by ignoring what he'd seen. "JJ, what can we do to minimize the media crush on this."

"I don't know boss, they're going to be circling like sharks with blood in the water. I'll set up a press conference for the early morning news, but before I can do that, I need to know what happened."

Gideon put the truck in gear. "I hope that's what we're going to find out.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n many thanks to my excellent new beta reidfanatic. I see that the number of reviews is a little less than I expected. Please push the button and give your writer the feedback she loves. **

Morgan stepped out of the elevator doors before they'd opened completely, and sprinted down the hall to the hotel room. They hadn't been able to get rooms on the same floor this time, and that detail may have just cost them a good detective, and an agent.

He flashed his badge at the officer standing guard at the door, and ignored the stony suspicious look the man gave him as he moved past him into the room. It looked like what it was, the room where an attack had taken place.

"Hotch what the hell happened?" This had turned out to be the 24 hours from hell. First Reid grows a spine, and stands up for himself, then there was the new girl, this horrible case, his sweetness blew up at him and now this, whatever this is. Damn it!

There was a chair overturned in one corner of the room, and the ice bucket lay in the middle of the floor leaking ice and cold water. The TV remote was smashed on the floor between the beds. The phone was ripped out of the wall ,and lay on the floor next to the destroyed remote.

"I don't know the specifics; I only know that she called me about an hour, and fifteen minutes ago. She was hysterical, crying so hard I couldn't understand what she was trying to tell me. I called 911, and met the locals here. We entered, found her on the bed, beaten, and bleeding, and Detective Lange on the floor with a hole in his chest."

The CSIs worked around the agents, and one of them signaled to Hotch. "Agent Hotchner, we've got prints on the gun, I assume they belong to your agent." He was a medium sized man about five feet seven inches tall, with black hair and dark eyes. His face was professional, but Hotch could see the pity in his eyes for the agent, and for the family of the dead officer.

"Yes, this is her weapon, what about Detective Lange's gun?"

"In his holster, it wasn't drawn, and we'll have to test it to be sure, but with the lack of GSR on his hands, I don't believe it was fired."

"Can you tell me if there is a chance that someone else was here? Maybe another attacker, and the Detective surprised him attacking my agent." Hotch knew he was grasping at straws. What was Detective Lange doing hanging around their hotel in the middle of the night. It wasn't like he was passing through on his way home.

"I can't tell you anything till we've analyzed the evidence, but at first blush I'd say no, she was alone with the Detective. We've got blood ,and some scratches on the detectives arms and face that look like they were made by the agent, but we need to do further analysis, and we need the evidence collected from Agent Abbott to be sure."

"You'll keep us informed through Detective Stevenson." The tech nodded and handed his card to Agent Hotchner.

"I'm Detective Terry Wainwright, supervisor on the night shift; my guys will get you some answers , I promise."

"Just please be sure to copy everything to Quantico." The director had wanted to look at the evidence himself before the review board got a hold of it.

"We'll do," he nodded again and moved away.

"What the Sam hell is going on," Detective Harrison entered the room at a fast clip, and Morgan grabbed him, stopping him just inside the door.

"Detective Harrison, stop -"

The other man's eye burned into Morgan. There was violence in his eyes, and Morgan hoped he wouldn't have to fight with this man. It was bad enough that an agent they didn't fully trust had killed a detective, but to have his partner running amok in the crime scene, well he wasn't going to watch it.

"**Take you hands off me, feeb!"** Morgan felt the blood rush to his face, it wasn't like he'd never been called that before, but this situation was getting to everyone. He took a deep breath, and tried to remember that he was an FBI agent, not a street thug.

"I'm going to let that go Harrison, because we're all upset tonight, but don't push it, do you hear me?"

"You don't scare me, Agent. If you think I'm going to let one of your team kill my partner, and get away with it , you're sadly mistaken. I hardly think that you're even close to being as upset as I am at this precise moment, brother." He spat it out like a sour taste in his mouth the he hauled back, and punched Morgan squarely in the face. He watched in savage triumph when he hit the floor with a thud. Then Hotch was in front of him with his weapon drawn.

"Back off Detective, or your Lieutenant will be getting a call from me." Hotch holstered his weapon when Harrison stepped back and they left the room. A woman in curlers, and a long flowered robe was standing in the doorway across the way. She was studying them as though they were an interesting species of cockroach.

"Hey, you want to keep it down, first there's shouting, and a gunshot, and then you all start yelling again. How's a person supposed to get any sleep around here?"

Before Hotch could reply, an officer stepped up, and began to ask her questions about what she'd heard, or seen. Hotch ignored their conversation and turned back to Harrison.

"Detective, we don't know what happened here, but we have a police officer dead, and a federal agent in the hospital being processed for evidence. The way I see it, neither of us is having a great night, so let's just calm down."

"He was a good man, Agent; there is no way he'd be up here unless your Agent somehow seduced him. Let me talk to her, I'll find out what really happened -"

"I'm not willing to make any judgments till the evidence is processed. I want you to stay away from the hospital and my agent. Whatever happened, she's been through a terrible ordeal, and I will not have you bullying her, do I make myself clear?"

The Detective drew himself up to his full height, and Morgan who'd just gotten up off the floor, wondered if he would also be forced to draw his weapon. His free hand went to his jaw. The man had hands of stone and Derek didn't want to be on the other end of another punch. He tried to tell himself that the man had caught him off guard ,that he hadn't expected to be attacked by a fellow law enforcement officer, but he knew better. This whole day had him off his game, and it was only going to get worse.

"I'll stay away, but I won't promise not to do my own investigation. I will not bury my partner with a smirch on his name."

"Then tell me Detective, what were you doing tonight, after we finished at the latest crime scene?"

"I went home, I have a wife and two little kids, I wanted to see them and make sure they're alright. I don't know what my partner did, he said something about going to get drunk. I know he was pretty upset with you."

"Why," Hotch asked, although he knew the reason.

"Because you embarrassed him this morning, he doesn't like the FBI. He thought you should've prevented the Webster girls's death."

"We fail sometimes, detective. No one is entirely infallible not even the BAU. Another team is on its way, and if you'll let them, they will help you find her killer."

"I don't think the Phoenix PD will be interested in helping the FBI, not after this, I'd say you're on your own!"

He turned, and strode down the hall to the elevator, and punched the call button as if he wished it were one of the agents face.

"Agent Hotchner, we're done here. The detective will be put first on the list at the morgue. We should have the autopsy results pretty quick. I'm going to run the blood sample we have, and any samples the nurse gets from your agent, against his internal control file, personally. I'll call you with the results as soon as I know."

"Thank you, Detective, we appreciate it."

"Don't thank me Agent, I knew Detective Lange, and I hope this isn't what it looks like."

"It you can't be objective Detective then -"

Detective Wainwright pinned Hotch with a stare comparable to one the Agent used on his team. "I am aware of my duty in this case; I assure you that whatever the results it will be obtained through science not speculation." He walked away with a rather stiff, and irritated back; his team followed and regarded the FBI with suspicious stares.

Well he supposed he couldn't blame them. They were loyal to the cops they worked with, they saw all the terrible things people did to each other, and had to make sense of it for justice to be served for the victims. Sometimes when you worked such long hours with others, and in such horrible circumstances, you couldn't help but feel a kinship closer than family.

Which reminded him, he called the director in Washington, and he had news for Morgan he would hate, but it couldn't be helped, and frankly Hotch couldn't blame the Director.

"Another team is flying in; the director pulled us off the case. He wants us to concentrate on finding out what happened here." He was braced for an outburst from Morgan, and he didn't disappoint him.

"But Hotch ,it's our case we're close to solving it, we just need more time."

"Morgan, I know how you feel, but we have an agent involved shooting of a police officer. Even if she's cleared, they aren't going to cooperate with us again. You know how the "thin blue line" stands up for its own. It won't matter what the investigators find, they'll believe she killed him in cold blood."

Morgan understood, but that didn't make it any easier. He only hoped that this killing didn't make what was a bad situation even worse. How did everything get so tangled up, he felt like he was in a bad action adventure movie.

"I don't understand why we have to hand this off, Hotch! That beautiful little girl and the others, we can't just abandon them! " His eyes blazed beneath the ice in his stance, and Hotch hoped he wouldn't hit the wall, and break a hand.

"Derek, we aren't the only BAU team, the bureau has others that are just as good as we are. Agent Hathaway's team is coming in, and you know they are as successful as we are in catching these guys."

Morgan's shoulders slumped in defeat. He knew his boss was right, but he didn't have to like it. He felt an enormous rush of anger at Agent Abbott. They had been just fine, and now all of this was happening, it wasn't right.

Hotch recognized the look on Morgan face, he'd felt it on his own for a moment just after Karen Abbott had called him. He wasn't proud of it, but the fact was, they all hoped to be free of all the drama occasioned by Elle's leaving the team.

Then he took another good look around the room, and felt a sudden pity for her. What he'd seen when he'd entered the room convinced him that she'd been in a struggle for her life. But why, he couldn't understand why a Detective, would attack an FBI agent. It didn't make sense. But then a lot of behavior he saw everyday didn't make sense. They had jobs precisely because human beings do things that didn't make sense to him. He supposed he should be grateful that on some level he would never understand the perpetrators, or the crimes he saw.

His phone rang. He stepped out of the hotel room to take the call. Everyone was waiting for results to come back, and he knew it would take a little while, and the CSIs had barely finished processing the scene. If Detective Lange had assaulted Agent Abbott the results would come back fairly quickly. He finished the call, and went to collect Morgan

"There's nothing more we can do here. Let's get over to the hospital, and see if the others have any more information for us, maybe they can talk to Karen for us, and get her side of the story."

Morgan nodded, and the two of them went to the elevator and waited for it to arrive without speaking. Morgan could only hope that the new team coming in would find the un-sub, and bring him to justice Damn it… he hated to leave a job unfinished, but now they had no choice.

He walked out of the hotel into the hot, dry, Phoenix morning, and sighed with relief when he was able to sit down. It was going to be a really long day.


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/n Thanks again to all who've reviewed and provided great feed back. _**

**_Disclaimer: As always I own only my own original characters._**

Spencer's brain was whirling; did Gideon just say that Karen had been attacked? This wasn't happening it couldn't be. She was so sweet and kind, why would someone do this to her? JJ turned back from the front seat and favored him with a smile of sympathy. She reached out a hand and held his, again. Why was she being so nice to him? Usually she didn't notice when something bothered him and now she was acting like…

"We don't know for sure what has happened. She has to be processed and a rape kit taken. We can't rule out anything. The crime scene detectives are working on her hotel room now."

He didn't say it out loud, but he didn't want the CSIs alone in that room. They were loyal to the detectives they worked with, what if one of them decided to "lose" a critical piece of evidence. He knew that Reid was smart enough to come to the same conclusion, but the young man looked like he'd been sucker punched and Gideon didn't want to upset him further by pointing out the obvious to him.

It was Elle all over again and he hoped that this time the shooting had truly been in self defense. Although he'd let everyone on the team; including Hotch , believe that he knew she was innocent of premeditated murder, he'd seen her eyes afterward and he wasn't so sure.

"JJ, she won't want Reid or me around so I want you to talk to her. Find out what really happened in that room, before one of the locals tries to intimidate her into changing her story."

JJ knew it was useless to complain or try to make excuses. She was sorry for the agent, as a woman, she wouldn't wish this on anyone. However, she didn't want to be involved with Agent Abbott as more than a coworker. If she had sympathy for this woman, she might lose the will to fight for Spencer and she didn't want that.

"Ok Gideon," she gave him a bright smile and hoped he wasn't reading anything other than cooperation in her face.

She looked back at Reid and saw that he had that look, the one that said he was struggling with a perplexing problem. Usually she only saw it when they had a particularly difficult case. His look of pure clinical detachment frightened her a little. She knew that he still blamed himself for Elle. He couldn't believe that nothing he could've said would've made any difference to their former teammate. Elle had made her own mistakes and it wasn't fair that a good man suffered for them.

She turned back around to face the front of the truck and saw that Gideon had been watching her. Well it was too late to pretend with him. He gave her a very small smile. She turned away and watched the street lights flash past, along with the head lights of the early morning commuters.

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Agent Abbott sat up in the hospital bed in an unfamiliar hospital in a strange city. Her knees were pulled up and her arms were hugging her legs to her chest. She sat in a pool of golden light from the overhead lamps. Her beautiful face was marred by bruises and her bottom lip was split open.

She couldn't believe this had happened to her again. _…please don't… no, I promise I'll be good…._

No… she refused to think about him. That was over and done with a long time ago he was dead and he couldn't hurt her anymore.

She didn't look up when the door to her room opened silently on smooth hinges. She didn't hear the click of high heels on the ugly tile floor.

"Agent Abbott, its Agent Jareau…"

JJ sat down in the chair next to Karen's bed, and tried once more to get the other woman to acknowledge her. "Agent Abbott? Karen?"

The other woman turned to look at JJ and the bruises on her face pulled at JJ's heart. At the very least she'd been beaten badly.

"Karen, I know this is hard, but can you tell me what happened?"

"Don't call me that!" Her voice was soft and scratchy like an old vinyl record.

"What?"

"Don't come in here and pretend that you care."

"Karen, I don't know what you're talking -"

Agent Abbott's face began to go crimson. Her hands were clenched into the sheets on her bed, and her knuckles were white. JJ suddenly had the feeling that if this woman had her gun she'd aim it at her and pull the trigger without so much as a second thought.

"I don't want to talk to you!"

"Agent Abbott I can assure you that -"

"Stop it, just leave; none of you believe in me, I'm just the new girl. If my team cared they'd all be here, instead they send you in to talk to me and you don't want to be here. You just want to size up the competition."

JJ blanched, this was turning out to be a really bad idea. "I'm sorry if you feel that I don't care about you, but I do want to help you."

"Please just leave, I want to be alone." Karen began to cry and her tears were what caused JJ to get up and exit the room.

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"Reid, this isn't your fault."

The far off look in the large chocolate eyes of the young man concerned him as much as it had JJ. "What happened to Agent Abbott, if anything actually did, is not your fault."

"How can you question her Gideon, she seems so -"

"What Reid, she seems so nice, so smart, kind, what," he pushed the young man because he could tell there were feelings surfacing that could be dangerous. She was new to the team and had been checked out, but there was something that he didn't trust about her.

_Of course it could be that you want him to get together with JJ so badly, you refuse to consider that another woman might be better for him. _

Ok maybe that was it, but this young agent in front of him is an innocent, or at least the most innocent of the team. He had very little experience with women, especially very beautiful women. The disastrous date with JJ didn't count unless you wanted to think of if as negative reinforcement. He assumed the date had gone badly because nothing had come of it and, as far as Gideon knew, he hadn't been out with a woman since.

Enter Karen Abbott, a gorgeous woman who, while not genius like Reid, had more than the average amount of brains. She also presented the face of another innocent and maybe she was and he was over-reacting because Reid was like a son to him and he didn't want him to be hurt.

He realized that Reid was talking to him. "…so you don't trust her, why?" Reid looked genuinely perplexed at the things Gideon had been saying. The look on Spencer's face sent a wave of guilt through Gideon; this was not going well at all.

"We don't know her Reid; she's only been with the team for one day."

"The bureau trusts her, she's been an agent for over a year and Hotch thinks she's ok or he wouldn't have approved her transfer."

Reid's tone wasn't accusatory; he spoke like someone who was truly confused by the contradictory behavior of someone he cared about. He still looked very shell shocked and bewildered and it made Gideon angry to see it in his eyes. The boy had been through enough, he didn't need this on top of Elle, his mother, and a childhood that had been, well less than ideal to put it mildly.

He started to explain his own doubts when JJ appeared in the waiting room. She looked like someone who had bitten into a ripe looking apple only to encounter a worm.

"She refuses to talk to me Gideon. She claims that the team doesn't care about her because I'm the only one that would talk to her."

"I sent you in there because I assumed that if she was sexually assaulted she'd be uncomfortable with a group of men surrounding her."

"I agree, but she flat out refused to talk to me."

A doctor approached the group and explained that, while Agent Abbott wasn't seriously hurt, he wanted to keep her till at least noon the following day for observation. JJ made her escape, claiming that she still had to deal with the media fallout. That was true, but she also didn't want to see Reid looking so upset and she didn't want Gideon to try and convince her to talk to Agent Abbott again.

She headed to the elevator and stood tapping her foot impatiently while she waited for the car to arrive. She couldn't understand what was going on with Agent Abbott. She'd never met the woman until that very day, and yet Karen seemed to have taken an instant dislike to her. It didn't occur to her at least at the moment that her attitude was a little hypocritical; all she wanted was to get the press conference out of the way.

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Hotch and Morgan met JJ on her way out the door and she filled them in on everything she knew including Karen's behavior toward her. "I don't know why she won't talk to me. I don't know if it's because she killed the detective or if she really feels that the team doesn't care about her.

"I'll talk to Gideon, maybe we can find a local female cop to speak with her. I just hope they don't close ranks on us and refuse to cooperate." This Hotch said out loud. In his mind he knew that it was probably already too late for cooperation from the Phoenix police. He pulled out his phone and the card Detective Wainwright had given him and dialed the number. They needed answers.

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Reid knocked gently on the door to Agent Abbott's room. When she didn't answer he knocked louder. She didn't say anything so he slowly opened the door. All of the light's were off except a low golden glow over her bed, and he saw that clock read three oh eight am. He was more tired than he'd ever felt, but he had to see her and make sure she was alright.

There was a chair at the side of her bed and he stepped to it, his shoes quiet on the tile floor. Karen was lying on the hospital bed, her eyes closed. He didn't know if she were asleep or if she was just lying there ignoring him. He looked at her blackening eye, and her cut lip. Her beautiful hair was mussed and he saw the bruises on her face and wrists.

He sat down and watched her for a long time. Gideon had left the waiting room to make some calls and Spencer had snuck out like a thief to come and see her. He knew instinctively that Gideon didn't want him in here with her alone, and he didn't know why. That morning everyone had been ready to accept her and now they all mistrusted her. Well except for JJ he'd noticed the way she'd reacted to the new agent and once again he wondered why, it was as if…

"Spencer…"

He jumped in surprise and looked down at Karen. She was looking intently at him and to his chagrin she began to cry. He didn't know what to say to a woman when she cried and especially to this woman.

"You believe me… don't you?"

"Karen, I don't know what happened, can you tell me." He didn't make eye contact with her. He was ashamed for her and he didn't want her to see it in his eyes.

"He knocked on my door and I was stupid and opened it without checking to see who it was. He was drunk Spencer he pushed me back into the room. He kept saying something about teaching the FBI a lesson. He was angry and he…"

She was crying so hard that he forgot himself and he reached out a trembling hand to touch her hair. She flinched away from him as if he slapped her and he pulled back and stood up.

"I'm sorry Karen, I shouldn't have come in here, I'll leave now."

"Please don't go Spencer, I can't bear to have you hate me too."

"I don't hate you why would you say that?"

"He was going to kill me Spencer, he said that it was time to teach the mighty FBI a lesson. Even though he was drunk, he was so strong. I tried to get away but he held on to my hands."

He could see the bruises on her wrists and he watched as her hands trembled when she moved them. Idiotically he noticed that her hands moved about in much the same manner as his own did when he spoke. It was eerie and unsettling.

"I kicked him and I think I must have clawed his face because he let go for a minute and I got my gun and I shot him. I should have arrested him Spencer but I was so afraid and the only thing that I could think was that he would beat me or rape me or worse. I don't understand why this is happening."

Her tiny body hitched with sobs. Hearing her cry and seeing the bruises on her face cut deeply into his heart. He reached out and took one of her hands in his. She didn't pull away, she grasped his hand so tight it hurt, but she wouldn't let him go. She fell asleep and some time later this was how Gideon found them.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/n Once again I thank all my loyal readers and the new ones as well, for their reviews and feedback. I know most people don't like Reid/OFC stories so I thank you for seeing it through.**

Hotch and Morgan exited the elevator, and found Gideon standing there waiting for them. He had a cup of wonderful smelling coffee in one hand, and he looked distinctly worried. Well, Hotch couldn't blame him; this had been one of the worst days they'd had together since becoming a team.

"Gideon, I just got a call from Detective Wainwright. The DNA found in the hotel room, and the sample taken from Agent Abbott, match the control sample for Detective Lange. Her sexual assault kit was negative, but the skin under her fingernails matches his DNA. It looks like self defense Jason. "

Gideon was relieved; at least they knew what happened and could deal with it. He called JJ and let her know, then they went to the waiting room to tell Reid. He wasn't there, and Gideon knew there was only one place he could be.

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JJ shut her phone. Her emotions were pulling her in a multitude of directions. The strongest was pity. She felt sorry for Agent Abbott, no one deserved what the woman had endured, but, on the other hand, she felt petty jealousy rise up and grab her firmly around the throat. She hated herself for wondering if this meant Spencer would pay even more attention to the other agent. This was just the sort of thing to bring out the protective side in the young man.

She strode angrily out to the front of the hospital, and as she passed through the doors, she reminded herself that she had to be professional in front of the reporters and cameras. She didn't want to lose her job, or make the BAU look any worse than it already did.

As soon as she made her appearance, the wolves pounced, and she was barraged by questions from every side. Cameras went off in her face and the flash bulbs blinded her. She should have been used to it, but that night, she resented the need to smile and act like nothing was wrong, even more than usual. She waited for a moment, and when they didn't quiet she spoke loudly.

"Ladies and gentlemen please, I'm making a statement for the FBI regarding the shooting of Detective Michael Lange." The reporters quieted, and she felt more at ease as the prepared speech flowed from her, as it was supposed to do.

"The facts I have at this time are that the detective was shot, and killed in the hotel room of Special Agent Karen Abbott. We also know that Agent Abbott was attacked by the detective, his DNA matches the skin found under the Agent's fingernails."

"Agent Jareau, isn't true the BAU had to reassign your case to another team? Is your team unable to do its job, or has the Bureau decided to cut its losses because of Agent Abbott?"

"The case was reassigned because the Bureau wants this man caught, and right now my team has to concentrate on helping our team member through a terrible ordeal."

"But Agent Jareau, you don't expect us to swallow the story that this woman was attacked by a Phoenix police officer, do you, couldn't there be a mistake?"

JJ couldn't believe her ears; did everyone hate the FBI so much that they were willing to disbelieve the evidence and the facts?

"I stand behind my teammate. If she accuses the detective of attacking her, then he was responsible. Why don't you guys do your job, and call your contacts at the ME's office. I'm sure they can tell you what the evidence says."

There were more shouted questions, but she ignored them, and left the microphones behind her to go back into the hospital. She was so angry she could hardly see straight. Her personal feelings were pushed aside, and she began to realize what it must be like for Karen Abbott at that very moment.

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Reid sat holding Karen's hand, and he was ashamed to admit to himself that he was comparing what her hand felt like to the emotions brought up by JJ's hand in his. She had fallen asleep, but still grasped his hand tightly in hers.

When he'd touched her it was like he'd been a victim of the balloon game he'd once played as a child. The kids rubbed the balloons over their hair, and static electricity built up causing their hair to stand on end. It was like that, the hair on the back of his neck stood up, and chills ran up his spine to the top of his head. He'd never felt that way about anyone before, and he was alarmed at what it might mean.

He thought of JJ, and the comfort he felt when she had taken his hand in the elevator. He'd felt like he found his true place and heart. He hadn't wanted to let her go, and when he did lose contact with her it was like a piece of him was lost as well.

He was so confused. He wanted to run away, go some place to think. It didn't make sense for him to be so drawn to a woman he knew nothing about. He couldn't decide what he wanted when Karen was so close, and so vulnerable. He wanted to stay by her side always and protect her.

If only he'd gone to her room as he'd wanted to earlier in the night. Maybe he could've prevented this from happening. God, he was so tired. He couldn't think straight. He began to tell himself that all of his confusion was a result of sleep deprivation, and that if he could only get some rest he could make up his mind. Then, reason raised its ugly head again. The truth was that short of going right up to JJ, and asking her how she really felt about him, he would have to assume she was only a friend, and that meant he could pursue something with Karen.

On the other hand, what if Karen didn't want to be pursued, especially after what happened to her tonight. His head was beginning to pound, and he put his chin on his free hand. His eyelids began to close, and he fought against it for a long time, but soon he was deeply asleep, his hand still holding Karen's.

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Gideon, Hotch and Morgan entered Karen's room as quietly as they could, and found Reid asleep at her bedside. Gideon frowned at the young man's obvious devotion to this woman they didn't know. Hearing the news was going to hurt the young agent badly and Gideon balked at telling him.

"Should we wake him up," Hotch asked in a low voice. He felt responsible for Agent Abbott. He should've seen the instability in Detective Lange, but he'd been so focused on the case.

"We have to; he needs to know what's going on." Gideon stepped to the young man's side, and touched him on the shoulder.

"Reid," Spencer jerked awake, and stared up in confusion and fear. The dark circles were back under his eyes, and Morgan's anger softened toward him when he saw the look of pure misery, and confusion on the younger agent's face.

"What -"

"Reid," Gideon repeated trying to keep his voice low enough not to wake Agent Abbott. "How is she son?" His dark eyes were full of compassion, and something else that Reid had seen before, but he didn't bother to try and work out why. "She's okay, but why are you all here, I thought you'd be working on finding out what happened tonight."

"Reid… we have some news, but let's not talk about it in here, come outside."

"No, I don't want to leave her alone, hasn't she been through enough already?" He looked over to where she lay, the light, dimmed to near darkness, threw shadows over her bruised and blackened face, making her look even more vulnerable. Leaving her alone was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Reid please, we need to talk, and you need to tell us what she told you." Well, so much for keeping anything from Gideon, he always knew what was going on in your head, your heart, and the most private recesses of your soul. It was annoying, disconcerting, and wonderful at the same time.

Reid nodded, let go of the hand that had long since gone lax in his own, and left the room with the other agents. Morgan tried to catch his eye, but he refused to look at his partner. He knew what the other man wanted; he wanted Reid to (a) apologize for blowing up, which wasn't going to happen, and (b) he wanted Reid to spill about how he'd ended up in Karen's hospital room holding her hand.

"I talked to the lab Reid, and they found GSR on Agent Abbott's right hand, and they found Detectives Lange DNA under her fingernails. It looks like a self defense shooting, but we need to know why he attacked her.

Morgan's phone rang. When he saw the number on caller ID he strode off down the hall. "Hey sweetness, I see you're talking to me again."

"_I never shirk my duty for petty arguments that would be un-goddesslike of me." _

He decided that her tone could wait, now was not the time to deal with her. _If not now Derek, when?_

"What have you got for me?" He prayed it was about the case, and not more commentary on his lack of understanding.

"_Well… it looks like Detective Lange isn't exactly a boy scout. He applied to the FBI back in 2003, and was rejected due to problems with authority. They also said he had real problems with women too. He made Detective last year, mostly due to the fact that Phoenix had a shortage of trained detectives, and they needed him in Homicide. I guess they thought if he partnered with Detective Harrison, who's as straight an arrow as they come, he straighten up. Obviously that didn't happen."_

"Thanks Penelope, call me if you find out anything else."

"_Of course my prince, why else am I here." _He was glad her smart remarks were back, but that something in her voice was still there, and he realized through the clarity that comes from little or no sleep that they needed to talk. It would have to wait, there were more important things to be dealt with.

He shut his phone and rubbed a hand over his face. His head hurt so badly, he was tempted to find a doctor, and beg for a morphine drip. It didn't help that Harrison had recently punched him in the face. He was just happy that he didn't have broken nose, to go along with his shredded ego.

He was angry too, Harrison knew about his partner's troublemaking, and he'd acted like Lange had been an innocent in the night's events. And the Phoenix police, what about them, they put him into this position because of manpower issues. He went to hit the wall, but stopped his fist from actually making contact. He didn't want a broken hand to go with his stinging nose, and screaming headache.

He made his way back to the others. They needed to know that Agent Abbott was an innocent in all of this, at least from his point of view. It bothered him that only Reid had shown unconditional faith in Karen. What did that say about the rest of them?

Speaking of Reid, he knew that the young man wouldn't step up, and apologize for that morning, and it was finally getting through to him that his partner was right. He'd been clueless about the young man, and had no right to treat him that way. It looked like he had two apologies to make, one to Penelope and one to his partner.

_It was time to eat some major crow. _


	8. Chapter 8

"Guys, Garcia dug up some background on Lange for us." Morgan repeated what Penelope had told him, and he watched Reid's eye's light up when he heard the news.

"See… that proves it, she told me the truth… you have to believe her now." His eyes pleaded with Gideon and Hotch to give her another chance. Trying to say no to that look was like trying to steal candy from a child. If you did it, you better be prepared for the pain, and the tantrum that would follow.

"Let's go find a place to sit down, and you can tell us what Agent Abbott said to you."

Reid wanted to argue, he didn't want to leave the hallway outside her room, what if she woke up and thought they were all gone.

_Get a grip, you've only known her for less than a day, why is she so important to you? _

Well, that's a very good question. It was one he didn't have an answer for. The truth was that he didn't want an answer to that problem. He wanted to go with it, and see where it took him. Anything was better than watching JJ everyday, as she ignored him.

He followed the guys to the waiting room down the hall. It was empty, and they sat down on surprisingly comfortable chairs. They all looked at him expectantly, so he told them what Karen had told him about the attack.

"So he has a beef with the FBI, and he decides to take it out on one of our Agents. I don't buy it."

"What are you saying Morgan, that she made this whole thing up? Why… what does she get out of it?"

Reid's face was flushed with anger again, he looked furious enough to take a swipe at the older agent. Gideon sighed inwardly; all of this was getting on his already frayed nerves. It seemed like the whole team was falling apart.

"Reid that's enough, Morgan I want you two to settle whatever it is you're fighting about. I want it done now, so we can focus. Stop acting like a couple of six year olds, you are supposed to be professionals."

"Gideon I -"

"Don't argue Reid, I want you to resolve this now." He and Hotch exited the room, and left the two of them looking like it was time for the showdown at the OK Corral.

"Look kid I-"

"You see, you're doing it again, just once can't you treat me like I am an adult." Reid would have shouted, but he managed to remember that he was in a hospital. He crossed the room and turned his back on his partner. Why was he even trying to talk to Morgan, when the guy just didn't get it?

"Reid… I'm sorry… I didn't realize that I was hurting you."

Reid rounded on him, and opened his mouth to say something they would both regret. Then he saw for the first time, the genuine confusion in the other man's eyes.

"You really don't realize how hurtful you are all the time. I'm not sure if I should be happy, or if I should feel sorry for you."

For a moment it was a toss up inside Morgan's head. He could be angry at Reid, or he could step back , take a look at the situation between them, and try to work out the problem. He decided that his headache was too fierce for this to come to blows, so he turned away, and went to sit down on a fairly comfortable looking chair. Reid remained silent, but he watched Morgan's every move. The older agent looked at his hands for a long time, and then he raised his eyes to Reid, who was still standing across the room.

"I'm sorry Spencer, I guess we all take for granted, that you'll always be around to pull our butts out of the fire. It's all you, did you know that? I mean you're the one that comes up with the solutions to some of the worst of the puzzles we face, and I guess a part of me resents that you couldn't find a solution to helping Elle."

"But, you told me that it was her responsibility, that it wasn't my fault." Reid looked so upset that Morgan thought he might flee the room.

"I know that's what I said, and for the most part I meant it, but there is a small part of me that blames you. I wish she were here Reid. I wish we didn't need a replacement. If she were here, we'd be working on the case, or at least sleeping, instead of trying to work out what the hell happened in that hotel room tonight."

"Don't you think that's a bit naïve? What if Elle were here and it was her Detective Lange went after, or what if it had been JJ? He had a problem with the FBI Morgan."

Morgan was glad he'd been watching the young man closely, because when Reid mentioned JJ his eyes were full of concern and something else. Morgan didn't know what it was, but he was glad that Reid still had feelings for the blond liaison, or he hoped that was the case. If he still loved JJ, Reid wouldn't be taken in by Agent Abbott. Morgan wondered about her too, but he was wise enough not to voice his concerns. Reid wouldn't listen to him now.

"Reid… we can't speculate like that and you know it. I'm sorry I put all of that on your shoulders; none of what Elle did was your fault. She is a headstrong woman, she wasn't going to listen to any of us, and now she has to make her own way back to the person she was, if that is even possible, and I don't know if it is."

"Can we stop talking about Elle? It's not her fault, what happened this morning. You were pushing me into doing something I wasn't ready for, and anyway you don't know the whole story with JJ."

"Reid I am sorry, I'll stay out of it, but why don't you tell me what happened a year ago, maybe I can help."

"Derek… I told you last year that it was top secret, and I meant it, please just let it go."

Because it was his partner, and because he knew that forcing the kid to share would only do more damage, he filed it away for later consideration.

"Okay my man, I really am sorry!" He walked over to where Reid was and slapped him on the shoulder. "Did we just make up?" Reid rolled his eyes, "Give me a break Derek, save it for Garcia."

"How did you -"

"Please, I am a profiler, and I have a cell phone too, you know."

"So you guys talked about me," Morgan wondered how much trouble he was in with Penelope.

"If you want to know, you'll have to ask her." He walked out of the waiting room and down the hall to Karen's room with Morgan following him like a particularly mischievous shadow.

"Come on man, tell me what she said!"

"No way Morgan, that's top secret as well."

"Shit Reid… enough with the top secret!"

Reid only snorted, and continued down the hallway, with an exasperated Morgan following behind him. Damn it, he was going to have to make two apologies. He wondered if Garcia would let him off the hook as easily as Reid had. He doubted it.

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Karen woke to a splitting headache, and her mouth felt like someone had used it for a punching bag. Oh right… she forgot for a moment, someone had used it for a punching bag. She lifted one hand to her face, and felt the swollen and angry flesh under one eye. She winced and moaned. She wondered if she looked as terrible as she felt. It didn't matter though, she was alive.

She looked around and realized that she was alone in the room. Spencer was gone, even though he promised he'd stay. Well, she should have learned by now that men _(and women)_ couldn't be trusted. That was okay, she'd get dressed and leave, and then they'd never have the answers they wanted. She could get a commercial flight back to DC and -

The door to her room opened after a soft knock, and Spencer entered with a smile followed by Derek Morgan. Her heart began to thump in her chest at the sight of them. They hadn't deserted her, but they didn't look too ready to trust her just yet; all of them, except for Spencer, who was looking at her as though his whole life depended on his superiors cutting her a break.

_See Karen, its okay he didn't desert you._

"Spencer, I thought that you -" She hated the whine in her voice but she'd been so afraid that once again she'd been betrayed.

"I'm sorry Karen, I didn't mean to leave you alone, but we got some news, and the guys wanted to tell me. You remember Penelope Garcia?"

"Yeah, the blond one with all those computers in her office, Hotch introduced us, she's a strange one."

"Yes, she is, but she can find out just about anything you want to know on her computers, and she tracked down some stuff about Detective Lange."

He told her what he had been told, and watched her face light up with relief. "So then its okay, I can stay on the team."

"We don't know Agent Abbott; there will be an inquiry in Washington that you'll have to go through."

"It'll be okay Karen; they'll have to believe you. The CSIs said that he attacked you just like you said." Spencer's tone was so hopeful, but she knew from experience that in matters like this, what a crime scene investigator found, didn't always exonerate a person.

"Do you really believe me Spencer?" She was surprised at how much she wanted him to accept her, and not be put off by that fact that she killed another law enforcement officer.

He took her hand again, and tried not to be angry at the renewed sight of the beating on her face. He didn't want her to see the rage in his eyes, and think that it was directed at her.

"I believe you and so will the bureau if you tell them everything that happened. You have to show them that you don't have anything to hide."

"Ok Spencer, do I have to stay here, I don't like hospitals." Her lovely whiskey colored eyes filled up with tears.

"The doctor wants you to stay till noon tomorrow and then we can all go back to DC."

The door to the room opened again and Hotch came in. "Morgan… the team from DC is here, we need to fill them in on where we got with the investigation."

"Hotch do I have to go with you. Or can I stay here; she doesn't want to be alone."

"I'd prefer it if you got some rest Reid, you're exhausted." Reid's eyes were so circled with black; he looked like he hadn't slept in years. Hotch noticed that the hand that wasn't holding Agent Abbott's, was trembling a little.

"Agent Abbott if you don't mind, I really would like Dr Reid to get some rest. Don't worry; we will come back tomorrow when it's time for you to leave."

"He's right Spencer, you look so tired, please go get some sleep. I'll be okay now that I know that you believe me."

How could anyone resist those eyes? He wasn't capable of it, so he left with Hotch. "I'll be right behind you Hotch."

Morgan shut the door and turned back to Karen. "I don't know what you're playing at, but I won't let you hurt Reid, do you understand me?"

She looked him right in the eye and said, "I don't intend to hurt anyone Agent Morgan, especially not Spencer."

"He's an innocent, and beautiful women don't throw themselves at him, so be careful, or you'll answer to me!" Morgan continued as if she hadn't spoken.

"Are you threatening me Agent Morgan?"

"No, I don't threaten when it comes to my friends, I make promises." He turned on his heel, and walked out the silent door.

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Morgan opened the door to his hotel room. They finally finished briefing the new team, and his pounding headache had escalated to never before seen heights. He still didn't understand why they were handing off this case. There was nothing else to know about Detective Lange. The science had confirmed it, he'd attacked an agent, and she'd defended herself, period, end of story. Except that wasn't the end, he didn't trust this new agent.

He threw himself down on the bed closest to the door, and pulled his phone off the clip on his belt. He hit speed dial for a familiar number, and stared at the awful sunflowers depicted on the wallpaper. The other party picked up; there was a long pause before she spoke.

"Penelope Garcia, speak!" Her tone was as cold as it had been earlier in the evening, and he knew it was for his benefit. His heart ripped a little, and he hoped that she would hear him out before she hung up on him.

"Hey baby-girl!"

"_What do you want Derek, I'm busy, its 7 am and I have work to do."_

Okay, he was getting good at admitting he was wrong. "I'm sorry Penny."

She hadn't expected that, the reflections from her "babies" on her face couldn't hide the flush on her cheeks that were rapidly turning from pink to crimson. He'd said he was sorry, she never, ever, expected that from him. She wondered for an insane moment if she were dreaming.

"_Why are you sorry, sweetie?" _Her frosty tone was thawing out just a bit, so he decided to push it.

"I'm sorry for all these years of shameless flirting with you. I made you think that I cared about you more than I did, and that wasn't fair to you.

Oh, he was letting her done easy; well she wasn't going to let him get away with it. _"Don't flatter yourself Morgan; I know it's all been a game. I've enjoyed playing it with you, but now it's probably better if we just forget -"_

"You didn't let me finish, baby-girl," he said, and she could hear the amusement in his voice.

"_I don't think this is a bit funny, in fact I should hang up now, and get back to my children." _He could hear the tears in her voice, and he said "Penelope please… hear me out." He was quiet, and she said nothing for a very long time. He was about to mumble an inadequate apology and hang up when she said.

"_I'm listening, and it better be good."_

"I said it was wrong of me to get your hopes up, but the reason that I did was because I was scared of how you make me feel. No one else has ever understood me the way you do, and I'm so in love with you I can't see straight anymore." All of this came out in a fast rush, he didn't know if he could say it again, so he hoped she didn't ask him to repeat himself.

This time the pause was so long, he believed that she was gone, and she'd never speak to him again. Then she said in a watery voice that was just above a whisper, which sent chills up his spine. _"Do you really mean that?"_

"Yeah… I do…. have I totally messed things up, or can we try to go on from here, gorgeous."

"_Yes… you beautiful profiler man."_

He heaved a huge sigh of relief. Suddenly his headache was gone, and the sunflowers on the walls weren't so bad.

"_Hey, stud, it took you long enough," _the playfulness was back in her tone and he grinned.

"What are you talking about baby-girl?"

"_It took you long enough to realize there ain't no one like me."_

Now his laughter was loud and delighted, she said _"Hey… stop snorting or you'll wake up the neighbors."_

"I don't snort, he was pretending to be offended," but she knew better.

"_So, sugar, you got time, or do you have to run off the save the world again?"_

"What have you got in mind, oh goddess of the information superhighway?"

"_How about some phone sex, baby?" _


	9. Chapter 9

**_A/n Thanks to everyone who has reviewed and commented through messages. Here's the next chapter_**

Reid woke at 11 am that morning. He rolled over and looked at the clock, and was stunned that he'd slept for eight hours straight with no dreams again. Then he remembered what had happened the previous morning, and he sat up abruptly. He shouldn't have slept that long and left Karen alone. She was so upset.

He got up and hurried into the shower, he needed to get back to the hospital and talk to her. He needed to make sure she was okay. He gave up trying to analyze the strong hold she seemed to have on him. He decided to go with it, and see where it went.

He wanted coffee, but there was no time. He wanted to be there before she was released, so that they could talk privately before the rest of the team descended on the hospital. He'd get coffee at the cafeteria. He was pulling his cords on when his phone rang. Damn it, there wasn't time for this right now! He debated ignoring the call, but if he didn't answer Hotch would be very unhappy with him. Besides, he would never ignore a call from a team mate, or his boss; he just wasn't the type of person to do that.

"Reid," at least he wasn't being yanked out of bed again.

"_Reid, we just heard that Detective Harrison arrested someone that Agent Hathaway believes to be our un-sub."_

"What… how…" his brain was whirling again. Here they had done all the work, and a police detective may have broken the case?

"_Listen; just meet us at the hospital. We need to get Agent Abbott released, so we can get back to DC. I'll fill everyone in on the plane."_

"But Hotch -"

"_Gideon will be knocking on your door in a minute to drive you and Morgan over there."_

"What about JJ?"

"_She's still there, she never left. She has been talking to the press, and trying to stem the tide of misinformation about the case and Agent Abbott." _

Reid said goodbye to Hotch, and closed his phone, and sat down heavily on his bed. It was too much to handle. This had to be the strangest 24 hours he'd ever spent in his life, and that was saying something. Well… there was nothing for it; it was time to go home. He found that he didn't want to go back to DC. He wanted time away from the office, and the strain of everyday life to sort out what he was feeling for Karen. The last day had been such a whirlwind of activity, and changes, he felt like he'd been sucker punched several times.

He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the stray locks behind his ears. He grabbed his glasses, and his messenger bag. He was heading for the door when there was a soft knock. It would be Gideon; he never pounded on a door like Morgan always did.

What was he going to do about the team? It was obvious they didn't trust Karen. He couldn't understand why, she seemed like a very nice person. He opened the door to Gideon, and the older agent stepped into the room.

"Reid, how are you, did you get some sleep?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, listen Hotch just called me and I'm stunned."

"Yeah, well I don't know the details yet; we'll talk about it later. Listen Reid I know that you're upset with me because I made you work things out with Morgan but -"

"It's okay Gideon, we're good."

"May I ask why you were fighting in the first place?"

Spencer felt his face get hot again. The last thing he wanted to do was admit to his boss that he'd had a crush on JJ all of this time.

"Ah - Gideon it's nothing, just a disagreement. I just want to forget about it, and get on with my life."

Reid could tell from Gideon's face that he wasn't buying the story, but the older agent wisely said nothing. The younger man would come to him on his own when he was ready. Besides, Gideon thought he had a pretty good idea what was going on, which is why he wanted to find out all he could about Agent Abbott.

They left the hotel room and took the elevator down to the lobby so Reid could check out. Morgan was waiting there, and he smiled at his partner as they left the hotel for the SUV in the parking lot.

"Hey my man, you look much better than the last time I saw you, did you get some sleep?" He grabbed Reid's suitcase, and stowed it in the back of the truck

"Yeah, I'm good."

They got into the truck, and Morgan took the wheel with Gideon next to him and Reid in the back seat. The day was sunny, and already hot enough to make air conditioning a wonderful thing. The sky was a deep sapphire blue, and was completely cloudless. Somehow it was brighter now that the un-sub had been caught. Reid only wished they could have found him before he killed little Kylie Webster. He thought her face would probably be added to all the other victims that haunted his dreams.

A terrible thought also hit him. What if Karen's battered face took its place amongst the victims, and the babies of his nightmares. He didn't think he could handle that. It was bad enough that … No… he refused think about JJ, there was someone else now, someone who seemed to like him for himself, and he refused to screw it up.

_Are you sure that Karen is the one you want, or are you only trying to escape your feelings for JJ?_

That damned internal voice. Why wouldn't it shut up and leave him alone? "Hey Reid, you doing ok buddy?"

"What - oh yeah Morgan, just thinking that's all."

"Okay, but I say you think too much my friend." He smiled at Reid by way of the rearview mirror, and it wasn't a smile that meant to hurt, it was a smile of genuine concern.

"I suppose you're right Derek."

He smiled back at the older agent, and Morgan noticed that the smile didn't touch the young man's eyes. He didn't push it though; his partner had to work out his own women problems. Now that's a problem he never imagined that Reid would have, more than one woman chasing him. Whether he knew it or not, JJ was definitely noticing him, and he was willing to lay odds that what JJ wants, JJ gets. Besides, he didn't like Karen, and agreed with Gideon that they needed to know more about her.

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Karen Abbott sat on the edge of her hospital bed. He face was a mass of healing bruises, and the cut on her lip was less prominent than it had been the night before. Her head was pounding, but not as badly as it had when she had been admitted. At least they had good drugs here. She looked up when JJ entered the room.

"I hope you won't be upset that I'm here. The doctor said you are ready to be released, and the guys are on their way over here."

"Why are you still here? I was so mean last night; you don't have to be here now."

"I know, but - well I can't imagine going through what you did, and I know that you were really upset last night. I'm sorry if I contributed to that."

"It's okay; I should be the one to apologize. I was just afraid. I never thought that I would have to kill someone. I mean I'm an agent, but I never planned on actually pulling the trigger, especially on a fellow officer. I just don't get it, why did he do it?"

JJ sat in the chair next to her bed. "I don't know Agent Abbott, sometimes there are no answers to the questions. Sometimes people do things for the sheer fun of it. That's one thing I've learned working for the BAU."

"Agent Jareau, why do you hate me, I've never done anything to you, but when I came into the conference room, and started to talk about the un-sub you were acting like I was Typhoid Mary." This came out of the blue, and JJ was so startled, she nearly spilt everything, her feelings for Reid, and her suspicions of the new agent. She bit back hard on that desire, and when the door opened, and Morgan entered followed by the rest of the team, she sighed with relief.

Reid looked at her with an odd expression on his face. She stood up and moved to the back of the group. She was hiding, and she despised herself for the impulse but she couldn't help it. She didn't trust herself to look into Reid's eyes anymore. She didn't want him to see what was in her heart. He wouldn't understand, and it would make an already complicated situation worse.

"We're sorry to barge in on you Agent Abbott, but the doc says you can get out of here."

"So you still want me to be on the team."

"Well yes, we know that what happened was an act of self defense. We're going back to DC, and you still have to go through an evaluation at the Bureau, but we still want you to be a part of our team." Hotch stayed grim, but his eyes were relaxed. Gideon was regarding her with a mixture of sympathy and interest. She thought that maybe he might trust her one day, she wasn't sure about Morgan or JJ.

"The doctor wants you to follow up with your own doctor when we get back so make sure that you do. I want to know what he says. And you're off the field list for at least a week."

"But Agent Hotchner, I'm perfectly fine I just - "she had stood up, and stepped toward him, some indignation at his assertion that she needed time off, apparent in her face. Then she swayed, and would have fallen if Hotch hadn't caught her.

"Yes, I can see that you're just fine. Now will you listen to me?"

She nodded and Hotch helped her sit down. "Okay I'll stay away for a week, but then I want to come back to work." Her eyes flashed at the two men, daring them to say no to her. For a minute she reminded Hotch of Elle, and he quailed internally. But this wasn't like that; this had been a righteous shoot.

A nurse came into the room with a wheelchair, and Hotch helped her into it. "This is so dumb, I don't need this chair, I can walk just fine on my own."

"It's hospital policy dear." The nurse was about five four and white haired. She looked like she had seen her share of battles with patients, and Hotch had no doubt she'd come off the winner in most of those confrontations. She just had that look about her that older nurses had, the one that said, "Don't mess with me!"

Karen had the good sense not to argue with her, and they made their way out to finish the paper work, to get her released. JJ moved to the front of the group when they left, so she could deal with the press that was still out there.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As soon as the jet was in the air, Hotch began to relate to the team what had happened to Detective Harrison. He had apparently gone to see Detective Lange's cousin. The man lived outside of Phoenix on a defunct cattle ranch. He was an artist. He wasn't famous, but he had a large enough following that he was able to live off the sales of his paintings. He traveled a lot for his art, and was known for his landscapes of the desert.

His name was Donald Rice and he looked a lot like Detective Lange. Their mothers were sisters, and they had the same auburn hair, but Rice was taller. He'd let Detective Harrison in the house very reluctantly. As it turned out, he'd already grabbed another little girl, and hadn't had time to hide her in the old storm cellar on the property. He thought that with the chaos occasioned by his cousins shooting, which had been all over the news within hours after it happened that he could snatch another girl, and there would be less heat.

Detective Harrison had been asking him questions about his cousin, to see if the other man would know of any reason why his partner would attack an FBI agent. Rice was extremely agitated, and when Detective Harrison heard the girl scream, Rice pulled a gun on him. Luckily, the detective was able to subdue, and arrest him without firing a shot, or getting the girl hurt.

"That still doesn't explain why the detective attacked Agent Abbott."

"He was angry, sometimes people do stupid, and dangerous things when they're pissed."

"Yeah, but Hotch, don't you think that's a little over the top?"

"I don't know Morgan, maybe he knew what his cousin was doing, and he thought that by distracting us, he could take care of the problem himself, I don't know."

No one could argue with him, and no one wanted to, at least not at that moment. They were exhausted, and unwilling to deal with all that happened in the last 24 hours.

Gideon stood and crossed to the other side of the plane. He sat down across from Reid, and asked him for a game of chess. It wasn't long before they were engrossed in the game, and the others were asleep, except for Karen, who was sitting at the other table, listening to her hot pink I pod. She'd pulled something out of her bag, and it looked like she was working on some kind of a puzzle.

By the time Reid lost to Gideon, again, she was leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed. Reid stood, crossed the aisle, and sat down across from her. He noticed that she was working on a Sudoku puzzle. He pulled it toward him, and studied it for a minute. He smiled and picked up the pencil she'd been using, a long purple one with yellow smiley faces on it.

"Don't touch that… unless you want to lose a hand."

His hand jerked back guiltily, and he looked up to see one of her whiskey colored eyes was open, and staring at him.

"Ah - sorry I was just going to -"

She opened both eyes, and pinned him to the soft leather chair with a look. "Do you make it a habit to wait until your teammates are asleep, and then solve their puzzles?"

"Well, I like Sudoku, and I was just checking to see how you were doing." He looked so contrite that she began to feel a little guilty that she'd reacted the way she had.

"Uh huh, well I like to solve them myself; I'm kind of funny that way. I'm sorry I freaked out on you."

"Its okay, I mean the last couple days haven't exactly been a walk in the park."

"I don't want to talk about it Spencer, or think about it. I just want to do my puzzle, it helps me relax." She pulled the ear buds of the I pod from her ears and put it away in her bag.

"Ok well, I'll leave you alone." He was very disappointed, but he understood the desire to shut out reality. He often wanted to do the same.

"No!" she said, too loudly actually and immediately blushed, so much for trying to be discreet. She liked Spencer but the whole team didn't have to know, at least not yet. Of course she forgot the part about them being profilers. She didn't realize that everyone on the team looked out for the young agent, in fact keeping an eye on young Dr Reid often translated into a full time job.

"I mean, you don't have to go, it's just that I want to figure this out for myself and - well you're a genius and…" She trailed off, her face turning crimson.

"Can we just start over, and pretend that I didn't say anything… please?"

Reid watched her eyes, and he knew that she hadn't meant to be insulting. She wasn't like the kids he went to school with, or even like some of the adults he knew.

"Its okay, I have a bad habit of pushing what I know on other people."

"I don't think that at all."

"You haven't been around long enough to hear one of my rambling explanations about anger excitation rapists, or the composition of India ink, or one of a thousand other things. It drives most people crazy."

"Well… I guess I'll have to wait to see that part of your personality."

"No one ever said that they wanted to hear me ramble."

"Then most people are idiots, I think you're a very interesting person."

Reid flushed and turned to look out the planes small round windows. The sky was a solid blue in all directions. Sometimes when they were flying home, he would look out the windows, and pretend that he was the only person in the universe. After a particularly difficult case, it often helped to soothe his frazzled nerves. Now it was an escape from the directness in her eyes. He didn't want to look too closely at those eyes; he didn't want to drown in them.

He looked back at her, and she was studying him with a strange look, and then it was gone, and she smiled shyly at him. The bruises on her face reminded him that he couldn't escape forever, sooner or later; the evil they dealt with reared its ugly head to take a bite out of their sensitive souls.

"Are you okay Spencer, you looked very sad for a moment." He'd wanted to say the same thing to her. She had a right to be sad, someone had attacked her, and she'd had to kill that person. He knew what that felt like.

"I'm ok, I was just thinking that I can't wait to get home, I so tired."

"Oh, well everyone else is sleeping so why don't you get some sleep as well."

"No," he said a bit abruptly and flushed again. "I mean I'd like to talk to you, if you're not too tired."

"I'd like that too."

She pulled the puzzle book to her, and began to study it. "If you put a 9 over there and a 5 there…" he began to point out to her. She glared at him good naturedly. "Dr Reid!"

"Okay, I'm sorry… you solve… I'll watch."

"I'm sorry; I tend to get a little territorial when it comes to puzzles. My friends at home used to call me the puzzle princess; I was always working on word finds, or crossword puzzles. It was always a bad idea to give me a new jigsaw, because I would work on it non stop till it was done, it used to drive my mom crazy…"

She stopped talking, and her face went white where it was free of bruises. "Karen, are you okay, are you in pain."

"I'm fine it's just that - well my mom died two years ago, and sometimes it just hits me that she gone."

"I'm so sorry Karen, losing your mom is the worst thing that can happen."

"If you don't mind my asking, are you speaking form experience Spencer?" Normally he would've made up a polite excuse not to talk about it, but suddenly he found himself telling her everything about his child hood, and his mother, including how he'd had her committed, and the feelings of betrayal he had to live with on a daily basis.

"I'm sorry Spencer, I had no idea."

"How could you, we only met 34 hours ago?"

"It seems like it's been so much longer than a day."

"I know it feels like a week's gone by since we were on the plane and flying out to Arizona."

Her face clouded over and she said with finality. "I wish we'd never gone out there!"

"I'm sorry Karen I know what you must feel -"

"No you don't… you weren't the one that had to kill someone."

Instead of becoming angry he only regarded her with his lovely eyes that were so sad, she instantly regretted her harshness.

"I had to kill someone once." He said so softly she almost didn't hear the words. His eyes never wavered from hers as he spoke to her, and she knew that he wasn't telling a convenient lie to make her feel better.

"What happened," she asked him, and he heard the regret that laced her voice.

He related the story of Phillip Dowd to her, and she found herself nodding when he told her of how he killed the man who threatened all those lives. He thought he'd come to terms with it, but he found as he talked to her his voice began to whisper, and he felt the salt of tears in the back of his throat. He struggled mightily to keep his emotions under control. He refused to cry in front of her. That was for later when he was alone, and no one could see, and judge him as weak.

"I'm so sorry you were in that position Spencer, but you did what you had to do, right?"

"Yeah, but I didn't like it."

"Good, no one should enjoy killing another human being; it's what keeps us apart from the people we hunt, our compassion for others."

"I know I hope that if you ever need to, you'll talk to me." He flushed at his own words, and suddenly found the top of the table very interesting.

"Thank you Spencer, you're very sweet."

The pilot announced final approach, and as if on cue the others began to wake up, and prepare for landing. Spencer and Karen were silent for the rest of the flight, each lost in their own thoughts.


	10. Chapter 10

It was 6 pm exactly, when they taxied to a stop on the tarmac. As they were deplaning, Morgan began to talk about going out for food. He couldn't get anyone to take him up on his offer, and the group separated to their vehicles. Spencer walked alone to his car, and watched Karen get into hers. He didn't notice that a third person was watching them. He almost didn't hear her call to him as he opened his car door.

"Hey Spence!"

He turned, surprised, and watched JJ walk nervously to where he stood. She never spoke to him outside of working hours not since…

_Don't go there genius, keep your mind on the present. _

"Hi JJ, did you need something?"

Oh the power of that innocent question, those eyes gazing forthrightly at her, with no deceit in them. Yes she wanted something. She wanted him, but was it already too late. Had the one thing she'd always needed in her life been lost? Had she been fooled by the plainness of the setting, into ignoring the beauty of the diamond?

"JJ, are you ok?" She realized she'd been standing there staring at him. He was fidgeting uncomfortably under her stare. She forced her eyes away from his gaze, and looked down at the tarmac. This was ridiculous; she could always look him straight in the eye.

"Listen, I'm too keyed up to just go home and try to relax, I was wondering if you might want to join me for some coffee, or a drink somewhere."

She wasn't surprised when he only stood there gaping at her, after all she'd been the one that had rejected him in the first place. The memories she tried so hard to suppress came flooding back as he looked at her silently. She remembered his nervous approach to her on the plane back from San Diego a year ago. She remembered saying yes to a seemingly harmless afternoon at a football game

_He'd come to her home to pick her up. He'd been so nervous he could hardly speak, and she had tried valiantly not to laugh when he dropped the car keys twice, before he was able to_ _start the car. The trip to the game had been long, and made awkward by his inability to look her in the eye. She had wondered if she done the right thing by accepting a date with him._

_She was so relieved when they finally made it to the game, and the box where they were going to watch it. He began to relax a little, when she found out he didn't know anything about the game, and she began to explain it to him. He seemed to enjoy it, and they began to talk about other things besides work and football. _

_She hadn't thought she'd have such a good time, but she did. Spencer was a gentleman who didn't try to paw at her like some of the men she'd dated recently. She liked spending time with a friend she'd known for a couple of years instead of a stranger. _

_She admitted to herself that they'd both had too much to drink, and she still felt bad that he had driven her home in that state. They were FBI, and were supposed to know better. But that wasn't the last of the things they did that were against her better judgment. She'd been laughing over some strange trivia he was spouting, and had invited him into her house. _

_Now, thinking about that afternoon, she was surprised that he accepted so readily. The alcohol seemed to take away his shy awkwardness, and for her, well it made her horny. She pushed him up against the door as soon as it closed behind him, and kissed him. If he'd been shocked or surprised, he didn't show it, and he responded eagerly to her kisses._

_She'd never had wild vertical sex before, but when he switched their positions, and her back was to the door, she didn't try to stop him. Even his very apparent lack of experience was a turn on for her; she'd never felt anything so erotic before that moment. _

_They had gone from there to the couch in the living room, then to her bedroom. It was as if they'd denied themselves, and each other, their whole lives, and giving into what they felt was greater than anything either of them could imagine._

_She had awoken the next morning with a hangover, and had panicked when she realized she hadn't been dreaming, he was there sleeping beside her. She'd gotten out of bed as quietly as she could, and had showered, dressed, and left her house. She'd left a note for him, saying she'd gone out, and that the night before had been a mistake. She'd begged him to keep it a secret. She'd said she was sorry if she hurt him, but that they shouldn't see each other again. _

_It was the most cowardly thing she had ever done. Although he had respected her wishes, she knew he'd been deeply hurt. They never talked about that night, and he'd remained a friend. She couldn't bring herself to talk to him about the reasons she'd driven him away from her, mostly because she didn't understand them herself. _

_When she'd awoken that morning, through the pain, and the guilt over her serious lack of judgment, she'd felt safe, and loved, and it scared her to death. It meant that nothing would be the same. She didn't want to feel this way about a coworker. She didn't want to love anyone, but especially not geeky Dr. Reid, after all, what would everyone at the office think if they knew she'd slept with the office nerd. She hated herself for caring, but she did._

All of this raced through her mind in an instant as he stared at her in disbelief. She saw the confusion and the anger in his eyes, and was burned by it. When he finally spoke, his voice was laced with acid, "JJ why are you doing this, I thought you only wanted to be friends?"

"Please Spence, can we just go somewhere and talk, I'll answer your questions, but I don't want to do it here."

"No, I want an answer JJ. You've spent the last year ignoring me, and after what happened that night, I think I deserve to know why you suddenly want to see me outside of work."

She chewed on her lower lip, and normally the sight of her pink tongue peeking out of her mouth, would've rendered him speechless. This time he ignored the fire that awoke in his belly.

"Can you answer me honestly JJ, or can I expect more excuses and apologies."

"I'm sorry Spence; I never wanted to hurt you -"

"God damn it, stop lying to me JJ, you've been punishing me for a year, because you let yourself get caught up in several hours of bad judgment. I want it to stop. I don't want to deal with your jealous snits."

"Jealous, who said I'm jealous," she tried to shrug it off, but he saw the truth in her eyes, and the basest part of him rejoiced. The green eyed monster was loose in her and she couldn't conceal it.

"Its obvious, you pretend that nothing happened between us, you claim to be my friend, then another woman enters our universe and you freak out. You're so jealous you can't see straight. Finally there's someone in my life that likes me for who I am, and it pisses you off. Well guess what, I glad you're upset. I'm so happy, I could sing for joy."

JJ's face had turned crimson with rage. "You've known her for less then two days and you think she likes you for your own sake. How can that be true when you're total strangers? You know nothing about each other. "

"I'm drawn to her JJ, I don't know why but I want to see where it goes."

"Yeah, you're "drawn" to her alright, I don't blame you, she's a beautiful woman. I forgot that you're a man, and men think with their pants, not their brains don't they? I have to admit that I'm surprised that you turned out to be just like any other man. "

He was angered and dismayed by what she said. He was dismayed because JJ was right; he was physically attracted to Karen. Secondly, he was upset by the twitching desire in his hand to reach out and slap JJ. He clamped down hard on that impulse, and instead he turned, got into his car and drove away without another word.

"**Damn it!"** She ran back to her car, tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't leave him alone; she had to hurt him again and again. What she'd said was completely unfair, and she'd known it even as the words were leaving her mouth, yet she hadn't stopped them from crossing her lips.

She got into her car, and slammed her fists against the steering wheel. He would never forgive her for those words. She would never forgive herself. When had she turned into such a bitch, had it been a year ago when she'd turned her back on him, or had it happened when another mysterious and beautiful woman took an interest in him.

She pulled her cell out of her pocket, and called a familiar number. "You've reached the office of complete omniscience, speak favored one."

"Garcia, it's JJ, can you do me a favor off the record?"

"Sure girlfriend, whose number do you want me to track down for ya, Johnny Depp or maybe Josh Grobin?"

"Not now Garcia, I need you to do a deep run on Agent Abbott."

"Why?"

"There's something not right about her, and she's got Reid wrapped around her little finger. He won't stop thinking with his head and not his brain."

Garcia winced at JJ's tone and decided the best thing would be to agree with her. "Men are pigs sunshine, but are you sure you're not just jealous."

"Damn it why is everyone saying that to me. Penelope, something is wrong, please just do the run and do it quick."

"Ok, I'll do it, nobody messes with my friends especially my sweet Reid."

JJ heaved a sigh of relief, if anything was fishy about the new agent, Garcia would find it fast. "Thanks girl, I owe you."

"Of course you do, but we'll talk about that later." She punched her phone off and got to work. If there was anything rotten in Denmark she would find it.

JJ started the car and put it in gear, as she drove away she didn't notice the car just down the street from the parking lot. Karen Abbott started her own car, and drove away in the opposite direction.

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It was sometime later when Karen's car pulled off the road into the Virginia woods west of Washington DC. She lived in a cottage 2 miles off the road. The money she'd inherited from her dead husband had allowed her to make certain modifications to the house.

She opened the car door, and got out into the night. She liked the woods at night, the sounds of the owls hooting in the trees, the wind sighing through the leaves. The myriad of sounds that frightened other people, didn't disturb her. Why should they, when she'd survived so many other terrible things in her short life.

She walked up the four steps to the front porch. It was a stone cottage with 6 rooms. She entered the house through the heavy oak front door. She strode through the small front room to the sound system and turned it on. She grabbed a CD and placed in the player. "Free Bird" from Lynyrd Skynyrd began to play as she pulled off her shoes. She turned the volume up loud enough to have been annoying if she'd had any close neighbors. Her skirt and blouse hit the floor next, and she gingerly touched her bruised face.

She had been lucky that the team had believed her story. She was furious that she'd run into Michael Lange, of all people, in Arizona. She'd been sure he hadn't recognized her, but then he'd shown up at her room, and threatened to go to her boss, and tell him all about her past.

She went to her closet and pulled out a pair of jeans, and an emerald green cardigan sweater. She still couldn't believe that he'd said if she slept with him, he might not tell Agent Hotchner about her years in the Sanitarium where he'd been a guard. At first she'd agreed, but then she told him no. He'd flown into a rage, and begun to hit her. She'd managed to get to her gun and she'd shot him. She couldn't risk anyone hearing what he had to say, and besides, the days were over when she'd let men hit her. First had been her stepfather, and then the incident in high school that had landed her in the institution in the first place. Then she'd gotten out of that terrible place, and met her husband, and he'd been like all the rest. Killing him had given her great pleasure No one knew she killed him, the poison she'd used was undetectable, and it had left her free, with enough money to do what she wanted to do.

The stupid doctors at the Sanitarium had said she was psychotic, but that wasn't true. She knew what she was, a sociopath with no conscience. This didn't bother her, she reveled in it. It made it easier for her to get what she wanted. She hadn't tried to convince the doctors otherwis,e and had obediently taken her meds, or at least they thought she did. They had released her, thinking she was no longer a danger to society.

What she wanted now, was to watch Jennifer Jareau suffer. She'd been planning revenge ever since high school. Then she'd been a nerd who skipped two grades in school, and was an easy target for kids like Jenny Jareau. JJ had been the pretty one, the athletic one that all the boys wanted to go out with. When Karen had first known who she was, she'd seemed nicer than her friends, and because of that, Karen had let her guard down, and had let Jenny put her in a position to be hurt. But now wasn't the time to dwell on that.

She opened the door to the room next to her bedroom, leaving the door open so she could hear the music. The collection of computers that were set up, nearly rivaled what Garcia had in her office. She was glad that she taken a programming class at the trade school. It had made changing her background, and names almost as easy as changing her appearance.

She knew that Jenny wouldn't recognize her, girls like her never remembered the nerds in school. Now she would make Jenny suffer, she would take from Jennifer Jareau what she most valued, and the agent would be powerless to stop her.

Seducing Spencer Reid would be very easy, and although her run in with Michael Lange had proved inconvenient, it had also earned her sympathy. She would enjoy making Spencer hers, after all he wasn't your typical geek, he was handsome and kind, and she had a sneaking suspicion that he would be great in bed.

She finished a simple task at the computers, and went into the bathroom. On the vanity mirror there was a picture of JJ cut from her yearbook. She stared at it, remembering, and keeping the rage fresh in her mind, and as the rollicking bridge from "Free Bird" began its loud crescendo, she picked up a heavy cut class bowl of silk flowers, and hurtled it at the mirror. The mirror shattered with a crash, and shards rained down on the counter top. She stood for a long moment looking at her reflection in hundreds of little mirrors. Then, when the song ended, she turned and strode out of the room, slamming the door behind her.


	11. Chapter 11

**Authors note:** _Thanks again to all who have reviewed, in spite of all the problems were having witht he site_.

Karen Abbott stormed out of her office and into her bedroom. Her plans had to be accelerated. Someone was looking into her past. She just bet it was that bitch JJ, by way of Garcia. Damn it. She needed more time to get to Reid. She wanted to make JJ suffer, by watching him fall in love with her before she killed him. She would force JJ to watch her kill him, then she would kill Jennifer as well.

She wasn't a stupid woman. She knew how to cover her tracks. None of this, the house, the utilities or even her credentials with the FBI was real. All of it had been stolen to facilitate getting close to JJ. She had watched JJ for a long time before she'd made her move. She knew about her failed date with Spencer. She assumed that the two had been intimate, and that JJ would balk at a relationship with a geek like Spencer. In fact, it proved that you could take the girl out of high school, but not high school out of the girl.

Long before Karen had joined the BAU, she had realized that JJ's feelings for the young genius had grown into something more than friendship. Her old "friend" hadn't realized it, but Karen could see it. It was the main reason she had decided to torture JJ, instead of just getting close enough to kill her. Losing the man she loved to an old high school classmate, especially a nerd was the best revenge. When JJ could do nothing to stop her from killing him, she would die in despair.

Unfortunately, the best laid plans often get trampled on. She had carefully changed her appearance when she'd come to Quantico. She hadn't wanted JJ to recognize her, at least not yet, and she hadn't, but something had made her suspicious.

When she'd set up her false background, she'd inserted a virus in her files, one that would alert her to anyone messing with her data, or checking her out. She'd just received an alert and she was furious. This meant she would have to put her plan into action immediately.

She packed the items she needed into her hand bag, and changed, yet again, into a black sweatshirt, black jeans, and shoes. She was confident in her hold on Spencer, she would do what had to be done, both of them would be dead, and she would disappear into a new identity. At last… she would find peace with the past.

She would drive to Spencer's home, and if he asked her any questions, like how the hell did she have his address, she would claim she got it from Garcia. He wouldn't know any better because soon he would be bait in her trap for JJ. She decided that her upset could be used to her advantage. She would tell him that she'd had a bad dream, and he would sympathize with her.

It was a pleasant drive to his home, made lovely by the fun to come. In fact by the time she parked her car and got out into the cold October night, she was elated. With any luck, this would all be over that night, and she could get on with her life. She reached out and pushed the button for his doorbell.

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JJ entered her house, and leaned against the door after closing it behind her. She went into her bedroom, and was confronted by the sight of her queen sized canopy bed. She'd found it while out antiquing one day. It had cost her a lot of money, but it was carved mahogany and absolutely breathtaking after she'd stripped off the awful coat of white paint someone had given it. She had stained it to bring out its natural burgundy colors. After her night with Spencer, she'd thought about getting rid of it, but she found herself unable to part with it. She told herself that it was because she had spent so much time and money on it.

She walked over the hardwood floors, and the throw rugs scattered across it, to her closet. She stripped out of her work clothes, and into a sweat shirt and jeans. She'd made an awful fool of herself at the airstrip, and for now she wanted to forget about it. She picked up a book, and wandered into the kitchen for some hot chocolate. A good mystery would take her mind off of Spencer.

Her living room was all glass and steel, except for the couch which was dark blue leather. There was a matching love seat, and a glider rocker in one corner. She retreated to that to read, and found that she couldn't concentrate on the page in front of her.

She'd messed up so badly when it came to Spencer. She wondered if she would ever be able to make it up to him. He'd suffered so much at the hands of bullies in school. She didn't know a lot about his mother only that she was in an institution. When he'd brought her to Quantico for her safety only weeks ago, Jen had been intensely curious about her. She had seemed to be an intelligent woman, and her way of speaking reminded JJ strongly of Spencer. Even though she'd inadvertently caused the Fisher King to fixate on them, especially Spencer, JJ knew there wasn't intent to harm in her.

She remembered thinking that she was sorry and a little afraid for Spencer as well. His life had been tough enough without the looming threat of an inherited mental disorder. She realized for the first time, how awful it would be to know that at anytime your mind could turn traitor on you.

Maybe she could call him. He was angry at her, but she didn't care. She would apologize and grovel. She would do whatever it took to get him to forgive her. She had to do something, Karen had him mesmerized so that he couldn't see that the woman was up to something. She kept her fingers crossed that Garcia would find something fast. She had to have some ammunition to use against that woman. Spencer would never believe her if she went to him with her doubts. He would accuse her of jealousy again, and some small part of her wondered if she were indeed overreacting.

She tried once more to read her book, and after half an hour of staring at the same page she gave up. She picked up her phone to dial Spencer's number. The phone rang in her hand, and she smiled in relief at Garcia's name on the caller ID.

"Tell me you have good news, Penelope," she demanded, without preamble.

"_What… no greeting… no hi girl, how's it going?"_

"Garcia please," She was whining, she could hear it in her voice, but she couldn't help it.

"_Ok sunshine, don't blow a gasket. First… don't shoot the messenger, but you ain't gonna like what I gotta tell ya girl." _

JJ closed her eyes, and slid down the wall she'd been leaning against to the floor. _I knew it!_

"What is it Garcia; just tell me so I can help Spence."

Garcia went on to tell her all that she had learned, and by the time she finished, JJ was cold all over. She should have known this would all come back to haunt her one day. Why didn't Karen come after her instead of Spence?

In a whisper, because she didn't trust herself to speak loudly, the tears were too close to the surface, she said, "Thank you Penny, I don't know how you found all of this so quickly, but thank you."

"Sunshine... you okay... you sound terrible."

_(Of course I do, the worst mistake I ever made has come back to haunt me, and Spence is smack in the middle of all of it.)_

What she said out loud was, "I'm fine, I'll handle it myself."

"_I don't think that's a good idea, you need to call the boss man."_

"I'm not going after her, she's for later, right now I'm going to Spencer, he has to know who she really is he has to be careful."

"But -" She was talking to a dial tone. After a long internal debate, she punched the speed dial for Derek; he'd know how to handle this.

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The door slammed behind Spencer when he entered his house. He couldn't believe that he'd let her get to him that way. It was just what she wanted, he was sure. He felt a deep burning shame, how he could have considered for one minute, striking JJ. After what had happened to Karen, the desire to hit JJ left him feeling sick. He ran to the bathroom, and dry heaved, there was nothing in his stomach to lose as he hadn't eaten in nearly 24 hours.

He went to the sink, and splashed cold water on his face. He looked up into mirror, and cringed at the sight of the dark circles under his eyes. He stood looking at his reflection for a long time, oblivious to the water that dripped down over his cheeks to his chin, and down to stain his sweater. He pulled open a cabinet, and grabbed a hand towel to dry off his face.

Damn it, he needed to get control of himself and quickly. He went into his bedroom and changed out of his work clothes and into a pair of sweat pants. He climbed into bed knowing that it was too early to sleep, it was barely 6 pm. He lay on his back, and began to think about that day last year. He'd woken up with a killer hangover, and he'd been alone in her bed. He'd read the note she'd left him, not believing what he was reading. He couldn't believe she was gone. In fact, he'd sat there, the sheets pooled around his waist waiting for her to come back. Two hours passed and he realized she was staying away on purpose. So he dressed, and slunk away to his own home, feeling like a teenager caught playing with himself by his mother.

He remembered the horrible humiliation like it was yesterday. She treated him as less than nothing. The only thing she hadn't done was leave money on the dresser for him like he was a common prostitute. Maybe she should have, then he wouldn't have felt so cheap and used. That was exactly what she'd done, she'd used him to scratch a drunken itch, and somewhere in his own drunken haze, he'd believed that she cared for him.

In the end, she'd been just like all the other pretty girls he knew. His first time had been with a freshman in college. He'd already graduated and was working on his first doctorate. He'd been working as a teacher's aide for some extra bucks, and one of the pretty girls had promised to sleep with him if he changed a grade for her. It was the first, and only really dishonest thing he'd every done. He blamed it on the fact that he was only sixteen, and teenage guys do stupid things.

She had humiliated him too, kicking him out of her dorm room as soon as it was over. She'd never spoken to him again and she made sure all her friends knew how lousy he was in bed. From that moment until he'd slept with JJ, he'd never dated; he didn't want to get hurt by another pretty girl.

Then Karen had entered his life. He'd been swept away by her beauty, and the fragile vulnerability that seemed to surround her. She seemed to be interested in him as well, and that by itself made him a little suspicious of her motives. He wanted time to think about how he was feeling. He was a profiler, and he knew that accepting someone at face value could be dangerous. One could put on a benign face, and still be malevolent in nature.

He'd kept all of his insecurities tucked tightly away in front of the team, because he didn't want to admit to himself, or to them that he had his own doubts about Karen Abbott. At first he'd been bewildered by most of the team's lack of trust in her, then he began to think that maybe there was a reason. Their job was to analyze people, and it occurred to him as he lay in bed thinking, that they saw something he didn't.

He'd heard people say that love is blind, well he supposed that was true. He'd been blind to JJ for months, and now he knew that she had some kind of interest in him. Damn it! He had to be certain. He closed his eyes, and began to run his memory over that last day and a half. The strange thing about eidetic memory was that it wasn't perfect when it came to conversations, or facial expressions. In that way he was like anyone else, he had to fight to remember what his conscious mind may have seen.

What about Kylie Webster, Karen hadn't reacted to her body with disgust, or distress as did most new profilers. He remembered the first murdered victim he'd seen on the job. He'd vomited in the bushes next to the driveway where they found the body. He'd been able to get clear of the crime scene before losing everything in his stomach. He clearly remembered the pity he'd felt for the woman, and what she'd suffered.

He hadn't seen any of that in Karen's face. He wondered if the others had noticed, probably not as Detective Lange had been causing trouble at the crime scene. Was that enough to doubt her though, there were people in the FBI that were very good at clinical detachment, maybe she was too.

Then he sat up abruptly. That was it, the look in Karen's eyes when they'd been at the crime scene with Kylie. He'd been too angry with Detective Lange at the time to realize that she recognized him. He thought it was strange that she'd been so casual about the man's insults; he assumed she hadn't wanted to make a scene. But that wasn't it, she knew him, which meant she might not be as innocent in the shooting as everyone thought.

Damn it, how could he have been so stupid? Was he so needy and insecure, that he no longer recognized a predator? Well… he might as well hang up his badge right now. He threw off the blankets, and got out of bed. He picked up his cell phone as he walked out to the living room. He needed to have Garcia check up on Karen. He noticed that his hands were trembling; and as his finger hovered above the speed dial, the doorbell rang.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Authors Note: Here is the last chapter, faithful readers. My thanks to my wonderful Beta REIDFANITIC and to all those who've reviewed. **_

"_Hey baby girl, you miss me?" _Derek's smooth as silk tones purred in her ear, and she almost forgot the reason she called him, almost.

"Sugar, I've been busier then a fox in the hen house when the guard dog's away. I need your help baby."

"_Honey… I don't know a lot about computers but I can try."_

"No sweet thing, my babies are just fine, its Reid and JJ I'm worried about. JJ called, and asked me to check out Agent Abbott. She's dead Derek!"

"_What do you mean she's dead, I just saw her couple of hours ago." _

"You saw someone, it wasn't Karen Abbott. I found a death certificate for her, she was killed two years ago, shot in the head, and the case was never solved."

"Then who is our Agent Abbott?"

Garcia explained to him all that she'd found. He whistled, swore, and then hung up, and hit the speed dial for Hotch.

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Spencer started in surprise when the door bell rang. Wondering who could be at his door, he walked over and looked out the peep hole. _What the hell is she doing here? _He ran back to his room, grabbed a tee shirt, and put it on

The bell rang again as he pocketed the phone. Karen knocked, and he yelled, "Just a minute." He stood for just a minute contemplating the door, and wondering if he should call Gideon, or just let her in. He could handle her, couldn't he?

He opened the door, and she jumped into his arms, her small frame nearly knocking him over. "Ah - Karen what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry Spencer, but I just had to see you, I had a really bad dream, and I thought that - oh it's silly I should just go.

"No, its okay, come in."

He led her over to the couch and they sat down. "Tell me about the dream."

"It was so awful, it was about Detective Lange, and the other night, only this time, I wasn't fast enough I couldn't get to my gun and he…" Her breath began to hitch, and tears began to fall onto the leather couch.

"It's okay Karen, he's dead and he can't hurt you any more."

He jerked in surprise when she kissed him, and he pulled away from her. "Spencer, please I know that we haven't known each other very long, but I really like you. You're a sweet, kind, and good looking guy. Please don't push me away."

"I don't think this is a good idea, you're upset, and I know how bad dreams can screw with your head. Why don't we have some coffee and you can tell me more about it."

She pushed him back on the throw pillows, and kissed him again hard, pushing her tongue against his lips. His mouth eventually opened, and she swept her tongue through his mouth. Shivers ran through him at the contact, and he pushed her away in shock.

"Karen, we need to step back, and talk about this -"

"No, I don't want to talk anymore. I know this is moving too fast, but I need some comfort. Make love to me Spencer, please."

His phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket. Karen snatched it away from him.

"Damn it Karen, what if that's work." She ignored him and opened the phone. "Dr Reid's phone, he's really busy right now."

"_Who is this?" _

"JJ well isn't this nice. Spencer's hands are pretty full right now, and I'd guess he doesn't want to talk to you anyway." She hung up the phone and put it on the coffee table.

"Hey… what'd you do that for?"

"It was JJ; you don't want to talk to her do you."

"It might have been about work."

"I don't think so, besides, she doesn't care about you Spencer." She nuzzled his neck licking the pulse point. He slid away from her, and she said, "Baby, I'm the one that truly cares for you. Don't you think you've waited around for her long enough? Don't let her make a fool of you anymore."

He pushed her off of him once more, and got up from the couch. He looked down at her with real contempt and yes disappointment. "I really thought you were different from all the pretty girls I've known, but you're not are you. I don't know what you want from me, but we are not sleeping together."

"I don't know what you're talking about Spencer I -"

"Oh save it Karen, I know you knew Detective Lange before we met him on the case."

"Spencer… I don't know why you're saying this."

"Stop it Karen, and tell me what really happened in that hotel room."

She sighed, and hung her head. After a very long moment, she looked back up into his eyes, and said, "okay, but can I have some coffee first?'

He regarded her for a very long time. _What was she up to now?_ "Yes Karen, I'll make us both a cup, but then I want to hear the truth!"

He went into the kitchen, and she called after him. "Put lots of sugar in mine." He stopped mid stride at that comment, then continued into the kitchen.

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Gideon was just putting the finishing touches on a lovely chicken Marsala, when his phone rang. He looked at the screen and saw the familiar name. Damn it all that work on the meal, and now it would go in the trash.

"Jason Gideon."

"_Jason, we have a serious problem." _

"Hotch, unless the President himself has been kidnapped, I don't want to hear about."

"_You're going to want to hear about this." _He laid it out for Gideon, and by the time he finished Gideon was in his truck and on the road.

"Call Morgan, have him meet us at Lexington and 9th streets, one of those large warehouse shopping clubs is on that corner. We'll leave the cars and take my truck.

"_Ok Jason, I just hope we're not too late."_

"I hope JJ hasn't decided to take matters into her own hands."

Jason dropped his phone into his pocket, and drove to the meeting point, profound dread already taking up residence in his heart for Reid.

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Spencer almost dropped both cups of coffee when he returned to the living room, and Karen stood there with her gun pointing at him.

"Put down the coffee and come to me."

He did as she asked without a word. She pulled a pair of handcuffs out of her pocket, and gave them to him. He put them on, and she gestured to the couch with the gun. He sat down and she sat on the easy chair, keeping the gun on him.

"So you want to know how I recognized Detective Lange. It's a long story so get comfortable. You see Spencer, my name is Lisa, JJ and I went to high school together in Pennsylvania. I grew up there just as she did; the only difference was I was the class nerd. I skipped two grades, and was fifteen when I started my senior year. I was ugly, with mousy hair, coke bottle glasses, and braces. I was the butt of every joke, and the guys ignored me unless they could make me suffer some indignity.

Now at this time Jenny was on the soccer team. She was pretty and well liked, but she didn't treat me the way the other kids did. She was kind, she tried to be nice to me, and be my friend, or at least that's what I thought. She asked me to tutor her in math, and we struck up a friendship. Her friends laughed at her because of it, but she didn't seem to care.

One early spring day she asked me to come to a party with her. I accepted because she always defended me in school, and I thought she would at the party. She helped me find a nice outfit, and she did my hair. I should have known it was all a trick."

Karen was pacing up and down in front of Spencer, like a cat trying to decide when to pounce on the mouse it's stalking. Reid was trying not to panic, he'd been stupid enough to open the door to a deranged mind, so now he had to figure a way out of this mess, if he could.

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JJ threw her phone onto the passenger side of the car. Karen was with Reid, but he didn't know about her, or what she was capable of. She remembered Lisa, and the terrible things that girl had done to some of her friends. She couldn't let Spence become one of Lisa's victims. She picked up the phone again, and it beeped in her hand.

"Hello."

"_JJ it's Hotch, Morgan called us, he told us about Karen, and your connection to her." _

"Her name's not Karen it's Lisa Stanton. She killed five people when she was sixteen; I thought she was in an institution all this time."

"_I know JJ; we have to make sure Reid's informed."_

"He's with her Hotch, I just tried to call him, and she answered his phone. I don't know if she's hurt him or not. I'm so scared."

"_Look, we're on our way over there now, I want you to stay put and let us handle this."_

"No way Hotch, this is my fault, I'm going with you."

"_JJ please -"_

"The longer we argue, the more we risk her hurting him, and I can't live with that. I love him Hotch; I want a chance to tell him, and to fix something I messed up."

"Okay," Hotch replied and told her where to meet them.

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Karen stopped pacing, and sat back down on the easy chair. She watched Spencer intently, he hadn't said a word, and she wondered what he was thinking.

"So I let myself be talked into this party, I let Jenny dress me up, and I let her drive me to her boyfriend's house. I thought we would be at his house for the duration of the party, but someone suggested we go to the woods, and tell ghost stories around a campfire. Of course everyone was drinking, including little miss perfect. I went with her because I had no choice, she was my ride.

Well after that it's all a blur; I don't remember anything after we arrived there, until I woke up alone the next morning tied to a tree my clothes torn, and my body beaten. I was lucky it was a public campground, and a ranger found me.

They said I was given a date rape drug," Her voice began to waver, and as much as he despised what she had become, Spencer pitied her more than he'd ever pitied himself, and what he'd suffered as a child.

"I was raped by at least three different boys. They beat me up, and the left me to die. Your perfect Jennifer did nothing to stop them. But I got my revenge, I killed all three of those boys, and my stepfather who'd also beat and raped me on a regular basis. I would've killed Jenny too, but they put me away in the sanitarium, they said I was psychotic, but I wasn't, I enjoyed killing those boys, and my stepfather. I would have enjoyed killing Jenny too, but this will be much more fun."

"What are you going to do Lisa?"

She erupted out of the chair, strode to where he sat, and backhanded him hard across the face. "My name is Karen, Lisa doesn't exist anymore."

"I'm sorry Karen, but there is another way out of this."

Karen laughed. "Don't beg Spencer, when Jenny gets here, I'm going to kill you, and then her, and then I'll be free."

"You don't have to kill her, you can leave her alive, and take me with you.''

"What, you can't be serious, you're a big time profiler, and your personal code of ethics wouldn't allow you to shack up with me?"

"Karen, I have been looking for someone like you all of my life, you understand me, we're the same. Both of us were tormented as children by lesser minds. You can love me the way I've always wanted."

She regarded him with narrowed eyes. Was he telling her the truth, or was he playing her?

"Come on Karen, lets go away, we'll leave JJ knowing that you won, she doesn't love me and it's time I realized that."

"You're trying to trick me, it won't work."

"Come over here baby; let me show you how I feel about you."

His tone was low and seductive and his eyes pierced hers. Something down inside of her, the part of her she'd thought was dead, and hadn't missed rose up, and wanted to believe him.

"No, you were pushing me away earlier, why are you saying you want me now."

"I was surprised that's all, and you're so damn beautiful, I didn't want to get hurt again."

His eyes pulled at her, and she stood up, and walked slowly to him, her gun still trained on him. "That's right baby, come over here."

"I think you're lying to me Spencer, you want me close so you can go for the gun."

"No, that's not true, I just want to kiss you baby, you tasted so good before." She hesitated, took a step closer. He didn't react only watched her come closer to him. She took another step, and then she straddled his lap, and kissed him. The gun fell out of her hand to the sofa and a voice said, "Freeze Karen, step away from him, and keep your hands where I can see them."

She froze her eyes pinned Spencer, and the betrayal in them chilled him. She dived for the gun, and ignoring Morgan's second warning brought it around to point at Spencer. He saw her begin to pull the trigger. There was a loud explosion, and she fell to the floor with a bullet in her chest.

"Am I alive," he said, turning his eyes on Gideon, who was literally shaking with relief. Morgan kicked Karen's gun away from her, and knelt down to check for a pulse. Spencer looked down at him, and Derek shook his head.

"I never wanted her to die."

"I know kid, I didn't have a choice, and she had a point blank shot at you."

"I'm lucky you're fast on the trigger.

"We're lucky you left your back door unlocked."

Reid grinned, "That wasn't luck, and I left it that way on purpose after JJ called here. I figured you guys were on your way. By the way, what took you so long?"

Morgan pulled him up, took off the cuffs and Spencer was suddenly engulfed in a big group hug. It was good to have the team back together. They let him go, and he watched JJ turn and walk away. He started to go after her but was stopped by Gideon.

"Let her go son, she has a lot to process."

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Epilogue

Gideon stood in the doorway of JJ's office. She was sitting in her chair staring into space, and rocking back and forth. She looked so much like Reid when he was trying to work out a problem that his heart tore in his chest.

"JJ, why don't you go talk to him."

"Gideon, I appreciate that you want to help, but I messed it up with him so badly that I can't fix it."

"Yes you can, he loves you, he has for a long time, and you know it."

"I don't know what to say to him."

Gideon smiled sadly, "He said that to me once, right before he asked the only one who calls him Spence, out on a date."

"He called in sick; I don't want to bother him."

"Stop making excuses and go to him."

So she did, she drove to his home, his truck wasn't in the driveway, and he didn't answer the door. She thought about going home, and forgetting all of this, when something Gideon said struck her and she turned her car around.

When she got to the parking lot at FedEx Field, she saw his truck parked across the street, and he was leaning against the driver's side door, staring at the football stadium. She pulled in behind him and got out of her car. There was little traffic that time of day, so she stood waiting for a long time while he was silent.

Finally he said, "How did you find me?"

"It was something Gideon said to me."

He smiled at last, "Yeah, he has a way with words."

"I'm sorry Spence, more than you'll ever know."

"I know that what happened with Lisa wasn't your fault, you don't have to apologize."

"I'm not talking about that, or at least not only about that. Listen Spence, whatever she told you I -"

He stopped her with a hand on her arm. "I know that she exaggerated your involvement in what happened that night. You would never hurt someone like that." His hand dropped away and her soul mourned.

"Everything she said was true. I took her to that party, I got so stupid drunk that I didn't realize what the guys were up to, and then my boyfriend Mike took me home. I didn't hear about the rest until the next day. I wish I could go back, and change what happened, but I can't. I want to fix us; I want to do whatever it takes to make things up to you. Please let me try."

He was so silent for so long that she was afraid he'd get in the truck, and leave her standing there, and then it would be over.

"I love you JJ, I always have, but I don't know if we can get past last year, and the last few days."

"I want to try Spence… please let me try… I'll beg on my hands and knees if you want, but please give me a chance to love you."

"I don't know if I can, you have to let me think about it."

"Okay… I deserve that… I hurt you… and I can't take it back, but I hope that one day you'll let me make it up to you.

He smiled sadly at her, got into his truck and drove away. She made her way back to her car. She wouldn't rest until she convinced him that she loved him. If it took the rest of her days, she would fight for him. For her, the blindness to his worth had gone; the darkness was over, now it was time to shine a light into a soul that didn't know its own beauty. God willing, he would see that light. She got into her car, and drove away from the place where it all began. Where it would end, only time would tell. Precious time, hopefully spent sharing the vast spectrum of all human emotions, love, humor, joy , and yes even anger sorrow and grief, with one another.


End file.
